explosive
by juliet agn
Summary: Unlock them all, piece by piece. There's the Mad Hatter, the Duchess, the March Hare. . . "So, Sasuke darling, who are you?" she asked as she held him at gunpoint.
1. 001: Pretty

**explosive**

**Author's note1: I've always loved when people throw a dark twist on Alice in Wonderland, so this is my take on it, just with Naruto characters. I hope it doesn't turn out lame. I tried my hardest.**

**If you care: How the hell does the spelling of Sasuke's name make ANY sense?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland. **

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

A pen slashing on paper is just as effective as a sword slashing through enemies. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will always hurt me.

Words have had power since they were created. Words can take down your adversaries, win a war, declare your love, and create a world. All one has to do is pick up a pen and some paper and get writing.

Words are most powerful when they create worlds, worlds no one can see unless they look hard enough. These worlds lurk in dark corners, shabby neighborhoods, down rabbit holes, and coexist with the boogieman in your closet. These worlds are known as-

-_a forest is painted out with the merest thought, then a desert, and then a whole new country. Then a palace is following after, a gigantic, magnificent palace sprouting up from the desert. A queen walks out onto a balcony, staring out at the desert around her, not noticing a figure slinking up slowly behind her-_

_-spinning through the forest, an ancient forest, a wild forest._

_Suddenly there are two figures visible,_

_one a small girl, the other a floating cat. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" the girl asks._

_The cat answers, "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."-_

_-zooming in on a trio of people sitting around a long table in the forest. "So," announces the man in the hat. "I'm bored."-_

-storybook worlds. The storybook world we will look at today is famous to a few and its name is-

-_Wonderland_.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_The queen sighed from her balcony, sighed as she watched her people bustle around in her city. The tight, frumpy dress, the crown that pinched her head, hearts everywhere, no matter where you look; it all seemed so overdone to her. But it was her duty as queen to bear all of this; even if it got to be so stifling she wanted to die. She sighed once more, sweeping her gaze beyond the desert, where the barest hint of green could be seen. She looked out longing at the green which she knew to be a cool, lovely forest free of hearts . . ._

_But she had a job to do, an obligation not just to her people, but her court, the people who chose her. When she retired, she could visit the forest, but not right now._

If _she retired . . ._

_She was totally unsurprised when she felt a long, shiny knife press against her throat. The queen didn't even jump. Her eyes slid over to the left where she could see glances of a man, right behind her. "I knew you'd come," she said, her voice devoid of any emotion._

"_Did you now?" he laughed. "Well, the knowledge didn't do you much good, did it?"_

_The queen looked out over her people again, uncaring of her predicament. "What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice holding the tiniest bit of irritation._

_The man paused before saying, "There's something I desire that can only happen if you die."_

"_And what do you desire?" she inquired almost lazily._

_The man grinned savagely, a grin that the queen never saw. He slashed his knife across her throat, and the queen crumpled to the ground in a rain of blood, still waiting for her question to be answered. The man stood above her, his lips in a feral smirk. "Oh, my queen," he muttered. "You should know. . ."_

"_I desire _chaos_."_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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001:

((_don't be jealous because I'm prettier than you, Sakura darling_))

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

My life was sort of lame before I met Sasuke Uchiha.

.

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**eighteen years ago**

All she could really register right now was the bright lights and the people standing over her and the sound of her own screaming. Then she felt tired, really tired, and someone was rocking her back and forth, whispering, "_My baby girl!_"

She didn't remember that anymore, but she was-

_-six pounds, six ounces, a little small, but a healthy baby girl. Congratulations!_

**fourteen years ago**

Momma wanted to take her out to the park so maybe she could meet people her own age and make some friends. But when a group of kids her age started playing near her, she ran over to Momma and hid behind her legs. "_She's just shy,_" Daddy said, as Momma frowned. "_She'll grow out of it eventually_."

**eleven years ago**

She was entering first grade, so that had to mean she was a big girl now. She didn't need Momma to walk her up to the school's entrance, but Momma did it anyways even when she told her that she was old enough to do it herself. After winter time, Momma finally relented, but only because there wasn't anymore ice for her to trip over.

**eight years ago**

For the first time ever, she was invited to someone's birthday party. There were a lot of girls she knew from her class there, but she sat in a corner by herself, talking to the birthday girl's mom, because she was too shy to join in with any of the games the other girls were playing. When Momma came to pick her up and asked if she had fun, she responded with a loud "_Yes!_" so that Momma wouldn't know that she just sat there and did nothing.

**five years ago**

She was holed up in her room, studying for a big test that she had tomorrow, like she had been for the past two hours or so. At dinner, where she reluctantly left her books, Mom asked her with a sigh if she wanted to take a break and hang out with friends or something. She immediately said no. "_It would be awkward,_" she said. "_I don't know what to say to people most of the time_." Mom didn't press her further.

**four years ago**

It was only after someone asked her if was okay with being a total loser did she decide that she couldn't wear overalls and plaid skirts for the rest of her life.

**three years ago**

She was in her usual corner of the library, where she could do her work undisturbed, when a very, very gorgeous man plopped his book bag on the table she was sitting at. She stared. He was just so unbelievably beautiful and he was sitting with her? Was this a prank or something?

"_See something you like?_" he said cockily, sitting down with more grace than she could ever hope to have.

She blushed furiously. "_Um, maybe, um, er, yeah._" she stammered out, totally unaware of what was spilling out of her mouth. He grinned. "_I'm Sasuke,_" he said. "_You don't mind if I sit here, do you?_"

**two years ago**

"_It's not fair,_" she mumbled. They were in her bedroom, sprawled over her bed. The TV was on but neither of them was watching. "_What's not fair?_" Sasuke asked, lifting an eyebrow at her. He really wasn't supposed to be here, this late at night, but Sakura's parents were out and they wouldn't ever have to know.

She tossed a pillow at her boyfriend, because he looked really cute right now and if he didn't move or something she was going to start drooling and that was really unattractive. "_You're going away to college with all these college girls who are way prettier than your stupid sophomore-in-high-school girlfriend,_" she whined as Sasuke rolled off the bed to avoid the pillow, landing on the ground with an "_ow!_"

"_Don't be such an idiot, Sakura,_" he said, standing up and chucking the pillow at her. It hit her square in the face. "_Uh, sorry._"

He climbed back on top of the bed, giving her one of his rare hugs (because Sasuke Uchiha was a _man_ and men did not cuddle). "_I'm mean, sure, all the girls will be flocking over to me, but you can't let your insecurity issues over the fact that no guy wants you consume you,_" he teased. She pushed him away and gave him the stink eye. "_No guy wants me?_" she growled.

He grinned cheekily. "_Don't be jealous because I'm prettier than you, Sakura darling._"

**one and a half years ago**

Sasuke had gone off to college, and her friends, growling at her that she needed to stop moping because it had been _six freaking months already_, decided that they needed to have a sleepover.

"_Man, Sakura, you are so lucky,_" one of her friends sighed, looking at a picture she had on her dresser of her and Sasuke. "_That's a fine piece of man meat you have._"

"_Man . . . meat?_"

"_I don't think so,_" her other friend called irritably from behind the family laptop. "_Look over here._"

She turned the laptop around do they could see. The Facebook picture she had pulled up at first didn't make any sense to Sasuke's girlfriend. It was of a group of friends smiling at the camera, evidently at a party or something because of the beers in their hands. "_What-_" she started to say.

"_Look in the background._"

Then she saw. A man was making out with some blonde girl in the background, a man she recognized very well.

She'd know that chicken butt hair anywhere.

**half a year ago**

"_Is something wrong . . .?_"

They were walking along the beach, their hands intertwined. She felt detached from her body. All she could think about was the pile of homework waiting for her at home and she still needed to clean her room, dammit.

"_There's nothing wrong,_" she said as calmly as she could, though she really wanted this to be freaking over with.

"_. . . Oh._" Sasuke stared past her, probably wishing he was back at college, where he was far, far away from here and he could mess around with anybody he wanted . . .

**now **

They were sitting on her hammock outside, slowly swinging back and forth. It was summertime, the summer before Sakura left for college. Today was probably the last time Sakura would hang out with her boyfriend before she took off, even though it was only the first week of August. She sighed, a miniscule sigh that Sasuke probably missed, too preoccupied with his own thoughts. Hanging out with him had become such a chore ever since Sakura discovered her attraction to him had been slowly slipping away.

She looked up at him and his pretty, perfect face. He was beautiful, she'd give him that, but it was becoming more and more apparent that neither of them really cared for the other anymore. She didn't know why they hadn't broken up yet. Maybe it was because they had spent so much time together, and poured a little bit of their souls into the other. She laid her head on his shoulder, a position she found was not really comfortable at all.

"Sakura."

Sakura looked up at the sound of her name. Sasuke stared straight ahead, giving no indication that he had spoken. "What is it, Sasuke?" she said, almost cautiously.

His eyes slid to hers. She saw a resolve in there and she wasn't really sure what to make of it.

"I don't think this is working anymore."

Sakura blinked, shock flooding through her body. She sat up, making the hammock wobble dangerously. "Are you breaking up with me?" she asked, a frown marring her delicate features.

He stared straight back at her, never blinking. "Yes." he said firmly.

They stared at each other for quite some time. Sasuke Uchiha was no longer hers, she realized, not even shreds of him.

"You should leave," she said flatly.

He nodded, face expressionless, and slid off the hammock. She watched him walk away from her, staring at the extremely fine butt that belonged to a man who just wasn't hers anymore. He didn't even look back as he crossed her yard, the bastard. She couldn't believe she spent three years with this man, three long years that turned out to be the biggest waste of her life. She sat motionlessly in the hammock as she saw Sasuke's car roll away, out of her neighborhood, and most likely out of her life.

"Bastard," she mumbled, and was surprised to find a few tears leaking out of her eyes.

The few tears turned into a whole waterfall, and she ran into her house, ignoring her parents, who called out to her with worry in their tones. "I just want to be left alone," she sobbed out to her mother as she followed Sakura upstairs. She nodded sympathetically and headed back downstairs.

(_Well, well, well. Looks like _someone_ needs a little divine intervention, wouldn't you say?_)

Sakura tossed herself onto her bed, sobbing into her pillow. Why did it hurt so much? She hadn't even loved him, not really.

_Maybe . . ._

Maybe, she still-

-What?

She sat up straight, her heart pounding, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She had the creepiest feeling that she was being watched, and that Sasuke was- he was in-

-_danger_.

Swiping away tears, she grabbed her cell phone off her dresser and punched in a familiar number. The phone rang over and over. She held it close to her ear, waiting anxiously for him to pick up the damn phone because if he didn't-

She breathed out a sigh of relief she hadn't even been aware she was holding when a voice said grumpily, "_What the hell do you want, Sakura?_"

"Are you alright?" she burst out unthinkingly.

There was a pause, and then Sasuke said, "_Did you think I'd jump off a bridge or something just because we broke up?_"

"No," she snapped, instantly feeling silly. Obviously, Sasuke was fine. "Listen, I must have been half asleep or something, because I thought you were in danger."

"_Thinking of me still?_" Sasuke said, voice riddled with sarcasm. "_How touching. So are we done here?_"

Sakura flushed angrily, glad Sasuke couldn't see her. "Goodbye," she said curtly, hanging up her phone and throwing it carelessly on the ground. How she had fallen in love with such an _asshole_, she didn't know. He was such a freaking jerk.

She flopped down onto her pillows huffily, grabbing the remote to her TV. She was done crying for the stupid bastard; she'd watch the evening news instead. Debt talks were more interesting than freaking _Sasuke_.

She was just about to turn on the TV when her phone starting blasting out loudly her ring tone, a song from a boy band long extinct. Hanging over the edge of her bed to grab it, Sakura saw that it was from Sasuke. Wondering why the hell he was calling her, Sakura pressed the little green telephone on the bottom of her cell and growled out, "Make it quick, Sasuke."

"_Is this Sakura Haruno?_"

The voice was unmistakably Sasuke's and she blinked at the odd question. "What are you playing at, Sasuke?" she asked suspiciously.

"_Is this Sakura Haruno?_" he repeated.

"Of course it's me, Sasuke, who else would it be?" she said irritably. "What the hell do you want?"

Sasuke abruptly hung up.

Her anger and irritation renewed, Sakura made sure to turn off her phone this time before chucking it on the ground. Cocooning herself in blankets, she turned on the TV, muttering something about 'stupid, asshole Sasuke' before devoting her attention to the evening news.

The reporters were going on and on about a dog parade, which was _so _boring and Sakura found her eyes drifting shut and her mind floating away . . .

(. . . _Is this Sakura Haruno_ . . . _?_

. . _Is this Sakura Haruno _. . . . _?_

((_Hold on, darling; we're coming for you_))

_Is this Sakura Haruno_ . . . . _?_

. . . _Is this Sakura Haruno_ . . . _?_)

Someone poked her cheek.

Muttering something unintelligible, Sakura pushed the hand away, snuggling deeper into her pillows. The person persisted, poking her cheek two times more. "Go away," she mumbled.

Her eyes shot open.

Wait-

"Good grief, you're hopeless," a sexy male voice uttered.

-was there a _man_ in her bedroom?

Suddenly, Sakura felt someone's arms go around her waist, and lift her up, hoisting her over his shoulder. She let out a scream, catching a glimpse of a pale face and dark eyes. "Sakura, please don't scream in my ear," he said. "Someone will hear."

"What?" she gasped. "How do you know my name? Mom! Dad!" she yelled as loud as she could.

"Why, you told me it some time," he said, striding across the room. "Do you want to know mine?"

"No!" she yelled, pounding on his back. "Let me go, let me go!"

"Ow, Sakura, please stop." He groaned when she didn't. "Oh, I think I heard something pop."

He threw open the window as Sakura quit thumping his back, realizing attacking him wasn't being very much effective. "What are you doing?" she yelled, squirming around.

He held onto her tight. "Please don't, Sakura. You're making me feel like I'm breaking a law."

"Breaking and entering _is_ illegal!"

He jumped onto the window, holding onto the sides for support. "Wait- what are you doing?" she gasped, trying to roll off of him.

"Why, I'm going to jump, of course."

"Are you mad?"

"I do hope that question is rhetorical."

With a little leap, he jumped out the window, Sakura screaming the whole way down.

She squeezed her eyes closed, hoping she would get lucky and only break a few bones. She expected to hit the ground any minute now, but there was a strange whooshing sound, and Sakura found she was still falling. She peeled her eyes open, clutching the stranger, and found that she was in a deep, black hole.

"OH MY FREAKING GOSH!"

She looked up to see her house looming over the hole she had just fallen into, growing smaller and smaller as she fell farther and farther. "What have you done, what have you done?" she wailed at the stranger as a wind howled around their ears.

"You were crying so I brought you here," he said, voice calm despite the situation. "I bet you never knew a storybook world was so near."

They were completely cloaked in darkness, falling through it, spinning, tumbling, and spiraling. "Are we just going to fall forever?" she shouted.

"No; should we?" he asked, bemused.

As soon as the words left his mouth a pinprick of light formed beneath them, growing larger and larger as they sped towards it. A room was revealed, a room with a checkerboard floor. Sakura gasped. If they hit the ground with the speed they were going at, they would surely die! She closed her eyes again, said a few 'Hail Mary's, and braced herself to die once more.

The wind stopped rushing by, and Sakura found herself hovering. She opened her eyes to find that she was floating over the checkerboard floor, barely a foot between her and it. Abruptly, she was released and smacked into the floor.

"Ow," she muttered, sitting up. "Hey-"

The man was nowhere to be found.

"What the hell?"

She stood, inspecting her surroundings. The room she was in was circular, with several different doors standing side by side. In the center of the room stood a table with three different keys placed neatly in the middle of it; a big gold one, a medium sized bronze one and a small silver one. She walked warily over to the table. What was she supposed to do? Go around with the key and try to unlock each of the twenty or so doors in the room? Sighing, she picked up the small, silver key and attempted to unlock all of the doors. It didn't fit in any of them. She turned and walked back to the table to retrieve another key _and they were both gone_.

Her eyes bulged.

How had the keys just magically disappeared?

Wait. She had fallen into the room through a hole in the ceiling, hadn't she? Maybe the man who brought her here came down and-

She glanced up. The ceiling was domed, with a chandelier hanging from the center.

No hole.

_Maybe there was a hatch or something,_ she thought. _After all, my eyes were closed when I dropped in here._

(_Oh, dear, dear, dear. How hopeless. A little bit more intervention is needed, wouldn't you say?_)

She peered at the ceiling, trying, to detect any telltale signs of a hatch, but she couldn't see any. Great. Just great. She was trapped down here in some random room in the middle of the earth just because of some strange guy who kindasortamaybe reminded her of her ex-boyfriend. She tried to open the doors again with her remaining key, and of course, it didn't work. She sat down next to the table, clutching the key and feeling like crying. Sakura sighed deeply, intending to bury her face in her knees when her eyes snagged on a tiny little brown box sitting innocuously underneath the table.

Her heart thumping, Sakura reached over and grabbed the box, placing the silver key into her jeans' pocket, where she could feel it resting against her skin. She opened the nondescript box that was barely bigger than the palm of her hand to find a-

Gun?

It was a miniature version of the type of handgun one found in James Bond movies. Wondering how it was supposed to help her, Sakura plucked it out between her forefinger and thumb, holding out the tiny, tiny gun. "Well, this is useless," she grumbled, putting it back in the box and shoving it into her pocket to join the equally useless key.

She stood up. Now what? Was she stuck in this little room forever?

She leaned on the table, sighing, when her elbow bumped against something. Turning around, she looked down to find a small blue bottle labeled 'DRINK ME' lying on its side.

Now how did _that_ get there?

She shrugged, and downed it anyways.

She instantly regretted it.

Her bones felt like someone was crushing them together, grinding them into each other. She had a newfound sympathy for old people with arthritis. She felt like someone was squeezing her lungs, making her gasp for air as the table grew so much it was above her.

Or maybe, she was _shrinking_.

Abruptly, the pain stopped and Sakura fell over. Her clothes, miraculously (although she admitted it didn't make much sense), had shrunk with her. The same couldn't be said for the key or the box, both of which had popped out of her pockets. The key was now half her height, and the box about a third. She looked up. The top of the table seemed impossibly tall now, and the ceiling as tall as the sky.

"Great. Just great." Sakura mumbled darkly. Her voice came out a little higher than she remembered. She was sure that the Sasuke look-alike who rhymed when he talked was probably laughing his ass off at her, wherever he was, the bastard.

Sighing, Sakura wondered if the gun was now the right size for her. If it was, and it was loaded, she could use it to shoot herself in the head. That was one surefire way to getting out of this damned room.

With more effort than she thought she would have to use, Sakura lifted the top of the box off and shoved it on the ground. As she hoped, the gun was now the right size for her. She leaned into the box, almost falling into it as she did, and picked up the gun. It was a nice, sleek gun, not too heavy. And even better, it was loaded.

She decided to eat the box for breakfast then kill herself when she got bored. Wait, no. First she'd eat the box for breakfast, find Mr. Rhyming-Sasuke-Look-Alike, shoot him, and _then _kill herself. Then when she was a ghost she'd haunt Sasuke because, she decided, everything that had happened to her today was Sasuke's fault.

Dragging her now-massive and useless key behind, the gun stuck in her pants like a cowboy, Sakura walked aimlessly around the room. The key made an awful, metal scraping sound as she dragged it around the floor, but Sakura wasn't paying any attention. "Oh, mister rhyming guy, where are you?" she sang out, like a deranged serial killer.

Then she stopped dead.

Right in front of her face stood a door, just big enough to let someone her size through.

She hurried up to it, lifting the key with both hands. It slid into the lock easily. With a mighty effort, she turned it, using all of her (somewhat non-existent) strength. She heard a click, and suddenly, the door popped open. Leaving the key in the door, she ran out of the smallest door she had ever encountered in her life.

She gasped. She was on top of a somewhat steep hill that provided her a view of the beginnings of a forest. The calls of animals surrounded her as she stepped gently down the rocky hill onto a lush, green grass filled with flowers and colorful, unreal insects. She saw a fly as big as her hand zoom out of a purple flower, a fly that had iridescent wings and a fat, green body. She didn't even feel scared or disgusted. Striding towards the forest with amazement etched on her face, she didn't notice as the door swung shut noiselessly behind her.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_Welcome to freaking Wonderland, _bitches.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

She was walking along an overgrown, dirt path in the forest, taking in the woods like she did oxygen. Eventually, the path stopped and she made her own way through the forest.

It appeared like one back on Earth would look like, but was different in ways both subtle and obvious. For one thing, the glimpses she caught of animals revealed that they all appeared to be some crazy hues, like a bird she saw whose feathers were all colors of the rainbow, a bird she was fairly sure in her world was a sparrow.

Her world . . . Where the hell was she?

The trees seemed to be older than the ones Earth had, more wild . . . darker, almost. But still, she couldn't bring herself to be scared.

She was walking along peacefully, dragging her hand along the trunk of a particularly massive tree when someone spoke from behind her. She jumped.

"About damn time."

"Sasuke?" she gasped, whipping around.

It wasn't Sasuke. It was stupid Mr. Rhyming-Sasuke-Look-Alike. He had dark hair and dark eyes and pale skin like Sasuke, but he appeared older, less cocky, more worn. His arms were folded over the simple black shirt and jeans he was wearing, as he gazed at Sakura with a mixture of amusement and annoyance in his eyes. "No, I'm not Sasuke," he said. "Come along, you're going the wrong way."

"Stop rhyming when you talk; it's really irritating." she snapped.

He blinked. "And what do you _mean_ 'about damn time'?" she demanded of him.

"Well, I'm afraid you took a long time in there," he said easily. "I was beginning to wonder how you'd fare."

"There you go rhyming again!" she burst out. "Who _are_ you? You took me randomly to another world and you look mysteriously like my ex-boyfriend!"

He grinned, and it seemed to Sakura a sinister grin, that behind all the rhyming and the dense persona, he was a bad, bad person. He opened his mouth to speak, and when he did, he didn't rhyme. "I'm not Sasuke," he said. "I look like him, I sound like him, but I'm not him. I am Itachi, and I am an Explosive."

"An 'Explosive'?" she repeated. He nodded, still smiling, and walked away. "Wait!" Sakura called, running after to him. "There are still some things I want to ask you!"

He stopped, turning to look at her. "Don't ask me. I'm not the question-answerer, you see."

_The stupid bastard is rhyming again_, Sakura grumbled in her head. "Well, then, who is?" she asked, extremely patiently, in her opinion.

"Well," Itachi stared off thoughtfully. "If it's not me, the cat . . ." he muttered. ". . . Maybe the man in the hat?" he said hopefully.

Deciding not to comment how that was a really freaking bad rhyme right there (_He's _so _not a cat, _she thought), Sakura sighed and said, "Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?"

Itachi suddenly grinned again, a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes, a grin that felt very cold indeed. He said, "Well, Sakura darling, that depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"I don't much care where-"

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go." Itachi interrupted with another smile. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him for interrupting her, and without any warning, Itachi was gone, disappeared without a trace. Sakura stared at where he had just been, completely and utterly confused at another display of a phenomenon that didn't happen in her world.

" . . . So as long as I get somewhere." she muttered.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Since Itachi, Mr. Creepy-Smiling-Rhyming-Sasuke-Look-Alike, had disappeared without even telling her where the 'man in the hat' was, Sakura started off through the woods in a random direction, hopefully not the way she just came.

"Bastard," she muttered, directing her thoughts towards two similar looking men. "This is all your fault. I freaking hate this place."

Suddenly, she thought she heard voices.

Stopping right where she was and holding still, Sakura strained her ears over the forest sounds and caught another stream of talking, coming from her left. Keeping in mind the fact that not everyone of this world might be friendly to her, she hurried towards the voices as silently as she could.

She peeked out from behind a tree and saw-

-nothing?

Actually, what she saw wasn't really a good definition of 'nothing'. Right in front of her, in a small clearing, was table set with cutlery and tea sets and desserts and plates, all sitting on the table haphazardly like someone threw them on it. Her eyes scanned the whole length of the table and landed on a man sitting at the head of table farthest from Sakura, feet propped up on the table on a stack of messy plates, a brown, dirty hat pulled low over his eyes. _Is he the man in the hat?_ Sakura wondered.

He looked dead.

Sakura was confused. She was certain she had heard voices, and there was only one guy here. Stepping out of her hiding spot warily, conscious of her gun, she called out, "Hello?"

He didn't move.

She sidled up to him cautiously, noticing a steady rise and fall of his chest. So he was alive. _Sleeping, maybe?_ she thought.

She poked him gently in his cheek. "Stop," he muttered sleepily, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

Tightly.

"Ow!" she cried. "Let go!" She just barely managed to pull her hand out his grasp, using his shoulder as a leverage to pull her hand out. She hopped back a few steps to be safely away from his arm's range.

He sat up, fully awake, clutching the hat on top of his head. His blue eyes, obscured by messy locks of blonde hair, stared at her. "Well, how would you like it if someone started poking your cheek?" he asked her peevishly.

"I don't like it much at all," she spat back, holding her injured finger. "But you looked like you were dead or something."

He lifted and eyebrow. "I'm not dead."

" . . . I can see that."

He stood up out of his chair, brushing crumbs off his clothes. "Are you the question-answerer?" Sakura asked him cautiously.

He stiffened, looking at her with a frown. "How do you know that?" he asked.

"Well, some stupid rhyming guy named Itachi pulled me into this place and he said a 'man in a hat' can answer my questions." she said, using air quotations around the 'man in the hat' part.

He smiled, shaking his head. "That Itachi," he muttered. He looked directly at her, a silly little smile adorning his face. "I am the question-answerer, Alice darling. People say I'm the Mad Hatter, but you can call me Naruto!"

.

.

_Hang on tight, kiddos, for the Wonderland ride_

'_Cause even though there was a hello_

_There sure as hell won't be a goodbye_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Can you guess which Wonderland character Itachi is? :D **


	2. 002: Rainbows

**explosive**

**Author's note1: I changed the genre. I didn't feel like it really fit the story.**

**If you care: The only reason I'm doing the '001' and '002' and stuff with the chapter names is because, someday, I want to have a '007' . . . **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

If there was one thing about Wonderland you needed to know, it was that the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter loved each other.

It was just the way it went. They always fell in love, every cycle of characters, no matter if they were both male or female; gay, but their partner was the opposite gender- it didn't matter.

But being forced to love someone made one who never wanted it vengeful and spiteful, Hinata concluded. It was the only reason she could figure out as to why she hadn't seen Naruto in over two weeks. She felt unsafe when he wasn't around, a little uneasy. He had to feel the same way, right? He did love her, right?

She hugged her knees to her chest, staring out her window at the nighttime sky. Didn't she know better by now? Naruto didn't love her. He felt an attachment to her, sure, but that was only because he was supposed to. She buried her face in her knees. She knew exactly where Naruto was right now- off canoodling with the Duchess, the stupid blonde girl who was infinitely prettier than her, the stupid, slutty, lying, cheating, _better _Duchess-

She looked up to see the first hints of the fireworks show put on by the town near the castle. She and Naruto used to go to that fireworks show every year, and she would use it an as excuse to hold him, pretending to be scared by the booms and he would gladly take the opportunity to hug her.

She smiled bitterly. Oh, she'd kill the bastard.

She'd fucking _kill him_.

Because Naruto was truly-

-_a particularly loud firework was sent into the air, one that shook her windows and let out a shower of green, blue, and red sparks. She watched them fall down, falling, falling just like she was_-

-explosive.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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002:

((_I shit rainbows and sunshine_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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Why don't we play a little game?

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura decided that she hated being kept waiting.

She watched Naruto impatiently, foot tapping, arms folded, as he crouched on top of the table, slinking slowly towards a-

Scone?

"Naruto," she called out. "Why don't you just grab it already?"

He sent her a wild glance, and suddenly, a high shriek filled the air. Sakura covered her ears. "Aw, Alice!" Naruto wailed.

"Where is that coming from?" she shouted, looking at the table. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw the same scone Naruto had been stalking hopping across the table.

Was a _scone_ seriously _hopping _and _screaming_?

"COME BACK HERE!" Naruto launched himself at the fleeing scone, but it hopped off the table and into the woods. "Damn scone," Naruto muttered.

"What was _that_?" Sakura demanded to know.

"I know, right?" Naruto rolled his eyes. "Thos scones are freaking fast for being a pastry and all. I think they can outrun even broccoli!"

". . . Really."

A line of cookies had gotten up and were hopping off the table. Naruto grabbed one in mid-hop and bit into it, cutting off its screams abruptly. Sakura winced. "So, did you have some questions for me, Alice?" Naruto asked.

"Well, first of all, why do you keep on calling me Alice?" she asked, blatantly ignoring the fleeing cookies. "That's not my real name."

"Well, of course it isn't!" Naruto said easily. "But it's your role!"

Sakura frowned. "My role?"

Naruto swallowed the rest of the cookie, frowning himself. "You really don't know anything, do you?"

"Well of course I don't," Sakura said huffily. "I'm in a strange world where food can talk It's sort of different from my own, you know."

Naruto grinned widely. "See, to me, _you're_ the strange one. But never mind that. I'll answer any questions you might have. It is my job, after all."

Sakura sighed. "Thanks.

"So, first of all, what is this role thing you're talking about?"

Naruto tapped his chin. "Well, how do I explain this . . . Oh! You know how everyone on your planet of Earth can do whatever job they want to do, ignoring money issues and all that?"

Sakura nodded.

"Well, here in Wonderland," Naruto said. "The moment someone is born, they are assigned a role, like how I'm the Mad Hatter. Once they die, someone else will just take over. Every person is unique, though; have their own personalities and shit." Naruto suddenly frowned. "People say I shit rainbows and sunshine. But that doesn't make sense, since I'm not gay and I have a girlfriend."

"Um, Naruto, I think they mean you're a happy person."

"Oh!" His expression cleared. "Really?"

"Really . . . So why do you think I'm this 'Alice' then? I'm not from your world."

"I can just tell," he said dismissively. "Wonderlanders have this sixth sense, you know?"

"Well, not really, but okay . . ." Sakura paused, another question forming in her mind. "So, what exactly do I have to do in my role?"

"You have to rescue Sasuke!" Naruto said, grabbing another cookie.

"_What?_"

"Yep!" Naruto said brightly. "Because he's going to die!"

Sakura stared, her mouth open. "W-what?" she spluttered. "_Die_?"

"That's what I said! It's his role as the Queen of Hearts."

"Sa-Sasuke's not a girl!" she gasped, running her hands through her hair in distress.

"I know that!" Naruto said, seeming slightly affronted. "But he was assigned to the Queen's part!"

"_What do you mean?_" Sakura lurched forward, grabbing Naruto by his jacket and shaking him. "Sasuke's hereand he's going to die?" She may not like the guy, but she certainly didn't want him to die!

"Alice, stop," Naruto removed her hands, holding her out so he could look at her. "My name is Sakura!" she burst out.

"Okay," he said gently. "Listen, Sakura, part of being the Queen of Hearts is that you will be killed by one of your subjects unless Alice can rescue you. It's just the way it goes, okay?"

"I hate this world!" she said angrily.

"Don't be like that, Sakura," he said. "You can still rescue him!"

"How?" Sakura mumbled, surprised to find her eyes were wet.

"I don't exactly know, but we'll figure something out." Naruto said determinedly. "I'll go to the Hearts castle with you and we'll save Sasuke!"

"Okay." She offered him a watery smile. He returned it with a brilliant one of his own.

"Let's go, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed. "There's not a moment to lose!"

"Wait," she said. Naruto looked confused. "I still have one more question for you," Sakura explained, rubbing her eyes.

"Ask away!" Naruto waved his arms around needlessly.

"What's an Explosive?"

Naruto frowned. "An Explosive?"

"The man who brought me here," Sakura said. "He said he was an Explosive."

Naruto seemed deep in thought. "I'm sorry, Sakura," he said after a while. "I don't really know what an Explosive is."

"Okay," she sighed. "That's fine."

Naruto offered her another smile. "Ready, then?"

"Yep." He grabbed her hand, and then pulled her through the woods, starting their journey.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_Lies._

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Oh, Naruto, I forgot; what's a storybook world?"

He stopped, the hat on his head obscuring his part of his blue eyes. "Oh, I can answer that easily." he said. "C'mon, Sakura, I'll show you."

He tugged on her hand, pulling her off the path they were following. Sakura let him drag her along without complaint, curious as to what he was doing. After about a minute or so of walking, Naruto stopped. "Look, Sakura," he said.

She peeked out from behind his shoulder and screamed.

It was the most wrong thing she had ever seen in her _life_.

Sitting in the grass, with weeds and other plantlike curling over it laid the word 'DOWN' in big, dark green letters. To Sakura, it seemed to be radiating off an evil aura. It seemed so wrong, so _awful_, just plain _unnatural_. She ducked behind Naruto, not wanting to look at it any longer.

"I forgot Earth people don't like the words so much," he said. "Maybe I shouldn't have shown you this."

"What is it?" she gasped.

"Wonderland is a storybook world," he said. "So it was made out of words. The words who created it are lying around here, resting."

"You mean- you mean it's _alive_?"

"Well, of course," Naruto said, sounding surprised. "By the way, you should refer to them as 'he' or 'she'."

"Can we please just leave here?" she asked.

"Sure, sure." He took her hand and led her back onto the path they had been on before.

"I don't get it," Sakura said once she had shoved off the memory of the awful word lying in the grass. "How can a world be created out of words?"

"Well, you've heard of fantasy books, haven't you?" Naruto said, and Sakura was silent for a while, contemplating this.

They walked on in silence for about twenty minutes, Sakura awkwardly playing with her gun, holding it in one hand, and then passing it to the next.

"Please stop, Sakura; you're making me think you're going to shoot me or something." Naruto said uncomfortably.

"Oh, sorry." She blushed slightly, putting her gun back in her pants.

Naruto noticed this and said, "We should buy you a holster for that or something."

"I don't have any money." Sakura said blandly.

"Well, neither do I," Naruto admitted. "I'll probably steal it."

"Oh . . . So, how long does it take to get to the Hearts castle?"

"Three days!" Naruto said cheerfully. "But don't worry; there are inns and stuff we can stay in along the way."

"But we don't have money."

"So?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Um, never mind."

Silence fell between them again. "Are you bored?" Naruto asked her after a while.

Sakura shrugged. "I guess so. Why, do you have something in mind to help pass the time?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say something like that." Naruto shuddered. "He gets very offended when people casually talk like that."

"He . . .?"

"Time," Naruto said as an explanation. "Last March, he got so mad at me he made it tea time for _forever_. It was awful." He shuddered.

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's fine," Naruto said. "Time goes on, you know, and he forgot what he was so mad at me for and made tea time over."

" . . . That's good." _Time's a person,_ Sakura thought, _food can talk, and the world's made from words? What the hell is wrong with this place?_

"So, Sakura," Naruto said. "How about a riddle, to make our walk easier?"

"Sure."

Naruto searched his brain for one, and then said, "How about this one? Why is a raven like a writing desk?"

Sakura wracked her brain, thinking about all she knew about ravens and writing desks, and came up with absolutely nothing. "I give up," she said. "What's the answer?"

"I haven't the slightest idea!" Naruto laughed.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, then that's a silly riddle."

"I know!" he exclaimed. "That's why it's one of my favorites!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_Hiding in the trees, the eyes narrow slits, the camouflage covering the clothes, the hissed order._

"_C'mon, bitches, let's do this."_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said suddenly. "Have you ever used that gun before?"

"Um . . . No."

He shrugged. "Well, I guess you're going to have to learn how to use it in about five seconds."

Sakura looked at him, confusion evident on her face. "What?"

Naruto grinned.

A green blur popped out of the trees, heading straight for her and Naruto. Sakura shrieked, dropping to the ground, pulling her gun out of her pants.

And Naruto?

Naruto pulled a short sword _out of freaking nowhere_ and slashed their attacker literally in two, a serene smile on his face. Blood splattered everywhere, splashing onto Sakura, who gagged and tried to cover her face to no avail. The attacker's legs toppled to the ground on top of their torso and head, an expression of surprise etched upon their bloody face for the rest of eternity.

Sakura stared in horror at the carnage in front of her. "Naruto!" she gasped. "What- what did you-"

"Extra sharp blade!" he said brightly, waving his bloody sword around. "It can cut through steel!"

Suddenly, Sakura glimpsed two more green flashes speeding towards the Mad Hatter. "Naruto!" she screamed, but he was already turning around, short sword whipping through the air. The first person lost their head before they could even point their gun at Naruto. The second person, upon seeing the fates of his companions, turned tail and tried to flee. "No, you can't do that," Naruto said, grabbing the person. He stuck his sword through the man's stomach and he crumpled to the ground, gasping in pain. "Sakura, shoot him," Naruto ordered callously.

Sakura stood, her knees shaking. She took in the scene around her; a man lying in two pieces by her feet, his blood staining her clothes; another man sprawled on the ground, his head a few inches from where it should be, the most gruesome expression on his face that she had ever seen; a third man groaning and rolling around in the dirt, blood leaking out of a painful stomach wound.

She held out her gun, but her hand was shaking so terribly she might accidentally shoot Naruto instead. She couldn't do this; _oh _God, she couldn't kill a man. But the poor thing was suffering at her feet, and he was going to die anyways, so why make him suffer further when she could end his life now? She pressed a shaking hand to her mouth, eyes locked on the pitiful creature before her. But could she really do it? Could she live with herself for _killing_ somebody?

"Sakura, what are you waiting for?" Naruto said impatiently, kicking the wounded man. Sakura shook her head. "I- I don't think I can do it, Naruto," she whimpered.

He shrugged carelessly. "Whatever." With a quick flick of his wrist, Naruto sent his sword arching down across the man's neck. His groans were cut off abruptly.

Sakura's knees gave out, and she collapsed on the ground, landing in a pool of sticky, slimy blood. She glanced helplessly at the sickening heap of dead bodies around her and let out a high, hysterical noise.

"Don't be like that, Sakura," Naruto admonished, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. "C'mon, we have a job to do."

"Why?" she muttered.

"Welcome to Wonderland, Sakura," Naruto laughed. "There's really no other explanation."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Why did they attack us?"

It was nighttime. Naruto had built a fire, pulling a lighter out of his seemingly bottomless pants pocket (that's where he had put the sword). Sakura had mostly recovered, huddling close to the fire with Naruto's jacket around her shoulders. She stared into it gloomily as the flames ate the wood she had collected earlier.

"I don't know," Naruto said softly amid the crackling of the fire. "It doesn't make sense."

Sakura glanced over at him. He was staring into the night, an uncharacteristically gloomy expression on his face. "Maybe we should get some sleep?" she ventured.

He looked at her. "I'll take the first watch," he said. "Can't be too careful."

She nodded, offering him a quick smile before rolling over and attempting to get to sleep.

Her mind was crammed with thoughts of what happened to her today, making her feel restless and not at all tired. She managed to fall asleep eventually, albeit into a fitful one.

She dreamed of potions that made her smaller, a beautiful boy who was going to die, a rhyming cat, a word sitting among weeds, an annihilation, and them Naruto was shaking her shoulders, whispering for her to get up, and she realized that it was not a dream, that it was real life, and that this was really happening to her. She sat up wearily, feeling like she got no rest at all, rubbing her eyes. Naruto bid her to stand up; sorry, but they were moving already. "Don't you want to rest?" she asked, words coming out slurred because she was still half-asleep.

"Nah," he said. "I don't need to." He pulled a scone wrapped in wax paper and a water bottle and handed it to her. "Here," he said. "Eat as we walk."

She munched on her (thankfully silent) scone and sipped from her water bottle, following Naruto blindly as he led her through the forest. She was sweaty, dirty, caked in blood, and wanted nothing more than to get out of this awful place that wasn't anything like a wonderland at all. But she couldn't leave Sasuke behind, not when he was facing death; no, she couldn't possibly do that to anybody. She'd grab him and then she'd finally go home and forget about this stupid adventure that was stupid freaking Itachi the Explosive's fault-

"What's Sasuke to you?"

Sakura blinked at Naruto's question. He had stopped, turning around to face her with an inquisitive look on her face. "What do you mean?" she asked carefully, disguising the twinge of pain she felt whenever Sasuke's name was mentioned.

"Oh, I'm just curious," he said. "You reacted so strongly when I told what was going to happen to him that I thought he must really mean something to you."

"He's my ex-boyfriend," she said shortly, pushing ahead of him.

"Your ex?" Naruto jogged to keep up with her. "Then why don't you just let him die?" he asked.

Sakura cast him a bewildered glance. "I still care about him!" she said, and with a start realized it was true.

"Why did you break up with him?" Naruto pressed.

"I didn't break up with him," Sakura muttered. "He broke up with me." She closed her eyes at the unwanted memories that came flooding back. " . . . He cheated on me." she mumbled.

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "Why would you want to save someone who's obviously a scumbag?"

"Sasuke's a good man!" Sakura said hotly. "He just can be stupid sometimes."

"Oh, I was just testing you, Sakura," Naruto said easily. "I wanted to make sure you wouldn't turn tail once we got to the castle."

"I won't run away," she said firmly.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_The Dormouse was lazy person by nature and he didn't really like it when things went wrong, because that meant he had to do something. All he wanted to do was paint. Right now he was in the midst of creating a still life consisting of a mouse trap, the moon, memory, and muchness (don't ask him, he didn't know either). He was quite enjoying himself, too, until the White Rabbit and several card soldiers burst into his room. "The Hearts castle has fallen," the White Rabbit announced, her normally quiet voice swelling with anger._

_The Dormouse set his brush down, sighing. "Well, we knew it was coming." He said with regret and loss in his tone. "Those damn Explosives."_

"_It was this Outlander, sir," a two of hearts card soldier piped up, shifting awkwardly from one foot to another._

_He arched an eyebrow. "Outlander?"_

"_The Duchess was controlling him," the White Rabbit said, her voice carefully blank. "He was completely brainwashed."_

"_He went in with a few guns," another card soldier, a seven, added. "Took out everybody; civilians, children, didn't matter. He had the most terrifying look on his face." The card shuddered._

"_Don't think about it," the Dormouse said gently to the card, who looked like he was going to have an emotional breakdown._

_He looked directly at the White Rabbit, who was staring out his window with a dark expression on her face. "Naruto wasn't there?" he said, voice low._

_She met his gaze with a mixture of anger and sadness in hers. "No," she said. "He wasn't with the slutty Duchess and he's been gone for two weeks."_

"_Where do you suppose he might be?" the Dormouse inquired, idly wiping the paint off his brush._

_The White Rabbit gestured at the cards. "Leave," she ordered. "Yes, milady," they murmured, and shuffled out the door._

_The White Rabbit turned to the Dormouse, her mouth set in a hard line. "Dormouse," she said. "Since he's been gone this long my inclination is that he has found an Outlander."_

_The Dormouse was clearly skeptical. "An Outlander?" he repeated dubiously. "I don't think it's possible for two of them to be here at the same time."_

"_Think about it," she pressed. "One Outlander found by the Duchess, who she has already placed as the new Queen of Hearts-"_

"_Whoa, you didn't tell me that-"_

"_- and Naruto's been gone for two weeks, definitely out of the country because nobody can sense him. So where do you think he is? Taking a road trip around Red Country?"_

_The Dormouse fixed her with a hard look. "Hinata, you're not possibly thinking the Explosives would do something like _that_, are you?"_

"_It's completely plausible," she argued. "Either way, I'm going to search for Naruto, and when I find him, I'll kill him."_

_She made to leave, but the Dormouse called out, "Wait. I'm coming with you."_

"_No, you're not," she said._

"_Yes, I am, and you can't make me stay," he said, tone booking no argument._

"_Fine," she sighed._

_He smiled. "Just give me a minute to pack my things. You know," he called over his shoulder before he disappeared into his bedroom. "I've got to keep an eye on you anyways. I worry about you since you finally found a backbone and stopped stuttering."_

_She rolled her eyes. "Shut up."_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It was hot out, so Naruto placed his hat on her head, claiming it would keep the sun off her face. They were in a forest, so Sakura didn't see how that made much sense, but she accepted it anyways.

It was too big for her, naturally, and hung over her eyes and obscured her vision so she had to keep adjusting it. Now that she thought about, the hat didn't even fit _Naruto_ that well. "Naruto, why are you wearing around a huge hat?" she asked him, purely out of curiosity.

"That hat is passed down to each new Hatter after the old one dies," Naruto answered. "It's been patched up quite a bit, of course, but I think it's at least a couple hundred years old."

"Wow." Sakura took it off her head and stared at it. "This hat has seen so many lives, so many different stories."

"Well, not really," Naruto said. "It doesn't have eyes."

" . . . I meant figuratively."

"Oh."

Sakura cast him a glance from underneath his hat. He was quite cute, she concluded. The blonde hair, the big blue eyes . . . such a charmer, really. She blushed; embarrassed that she was thinking these things.

"Thinking about me in a dirty way, Sakura?" Naruto asked playfully. She blushed even deeper. "No!" she said quickly. "I'm just hot and sweaty, that's all!"

"Suuuure." He rolled his eyes. "I know I'm a good-looking guy, Sakura, it's okay."

"I have a boyfriend!" she burst out unthinkingly. Then she remembered she _didn't_. "I mean . . ."

Naruto (for the first time in his life) had enough tact to ignore her.

He squinted up at the sky, at least, what he could see of it through the trees. "Looks like it's about noon," he concluded. "Are you hungry, Sakura?"

"Not really," she answered truthfully.

Naruto shrugged. "Suit yourself." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a ham sandwich. Sakura didn't even ask.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto said after he'd finished his sandwich. "Do you think you know how to use that gun better now?"

"Well, no," Sakura said warily. "Why?"

A smile split across his face. "Because we're going to get attacked again!"

Her eyes widened and she whipped out her gun faster than you could say "Take out your gun!" Naruto dug into his pocket and pulled out his lethal short sword, brandishing it as two people came into view.

Sakura pointed her gun at them, thinking that they looked even stranger than Naruto did. One was a guy with his hair gathered in a ponytail on top of his head, and was wearing a mouse ears headband. He was dressed normally (to Sakura at least) and had a small gun and several knives swinging from a belt around his waist.

The girl standing next to him was holding out a machine gun at Naruto, her face wearing the nastiest expression Sakura had ever seen. She had a headband of white bunny ears on top of her that looked like it would slip off at any given moment. Sakura didn't know how to describe what she was wearing- a sort of tunic thing with a scarf- but that didn't really matter at the moment because she looked like she was going to kill Naruto.

"Hinata, put your gun down," the man said guardedly. "We're not here to fight."

Naruto gave a short laugh. "Like hell you aren't! I know you have three card soldiers hiding in the trees behind you."

"That's only if you decide to do something stupid," the man said. "We just want to talk about some things."

"Me too, actually," Naruto said. He turned to Hinata, his face angry. "Why the hell are you pointing that thing at me?" he shouted.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why the hell are you sleeping around with the Duchess?"

"What?" Sakura said, feeling quite left out. "Naruto, is this your girlfriend?"

"Shut up," Hinata said to her harshly.

"Hinata, stop," the man ordered. "Calm down. You're doing exactly what he wants you to do."

Naruto seemed absolutely bewildered, and Sakura knew she was, too. "What is going on here?" she whispered to him.

"I dunno," he whispered back. "Listen, I'll get rid of the card soldiers quick, and then you back me up while I fight these guys, okay?"

"Stop whispering back there," Hinata said.

Naruto offered her a grin, called her a whore and then ripped Sakura's gun out her hand, shooting into the trees.

It all happened very fast after that. The man shouted at his partner "Down!" and they dropped, pulling out weapons. A man with the five of hearts emblazoned on his clothes dropped from the trees, dead. His companions tried to flee, but Naruto shot them both in the back of the head, and they both crumpled to the ground, not going anywhere. He handed Sakura her gun back and charged at the two remaining people. Hinata shot at Naruto, but missed, and Sakura, her hands shaking terribly, pulled the trigger and blew up the ground around Hinata's feet. Surprised, she jumped backwards, allowing Naruto to get close enough to her where her gun would be useless. With a start, Sakura realized that they had lost track of the mouse ears man and she saw him come up behind her too late. "Sorry," he said to her apologetically as he hit her on the back of the neck.

Her world went black.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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_Falling, tumbling, spiraling, whirling_

_Where will we go? Who freaking knows?_

_All we can say is let the games begin_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Reviews are very much appreciated.**


	3. 003: Understanding

**explosive**

**Author's note1: So, sorry if this chapter is boring, but there's some stuff that needs to be explained to Sakura. Promise the next one will be more action-y and crazy.**

**If you care: I just discovered this video game called Alice: Madness Returns in which Alice went crazy and Wonderland is all horrific and insane and stuff. Gosh, I really want to play it now!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

He had been kidnapped by the man who looked like his dead brother. He had unlocked the room with the shrinking potion. He had met the man in the hat. He had traveled through Wonderland and had become the Queen of Hearts. He had met the Duchess and would die for her. He had killed all who tried to oppose her.

He was reclining uncomfortably in a tall, narrow throne, his new, regal attire making him feel hot and itchy. He stared out listlessly at a random citizen babbling on about something he didn't care about. He just wanted his pretty Duchess to be here. He didn't care about anything else; only his pretty Duchess and whatever she wanted.

(_Something, something in the very back of his mind pushed forth a glimmering image of a pink haired girl but something else shoved it back down, and the image was gone from him._)

"_Thank you_," he said, lethargy more than evident in his tone. The citizen bowed, a hint of concern in his eyes, and walked out of the chamber.

He suddenly smiled, and it was a smile devoid of any cheerfulness. "_Guards_," he said. "_Off with his_ head."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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003:

((_there's a lot you don't understand about this world_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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Alice, this is what we call _truth_.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

He walked back to his bedchamber, robes billowing around him, almost hitting the two guards who had been assigned to him at all times, courtesy of the Duchess. He appreciated her concern but, he thought, he could clearly take care of himself, if the battle from a few days ago was anything to go by.

He arrived at his room, and, ordering the guards to stand by outside, went within, intending to take a well-deserved nap, for he was so tired nowadays with his duties as Queen and all. To his surprise, his pretty Duchess was sitting on the windowsill, a cool breeze sending her long hair whipping around. "_Darling,_" she said, rising to hug him when he entered. He hugged her tightly against him, feeling like there was no one better in all of Wonderland.

She released him, pulling back to look into his face, her hands on his shoulders. "_You've done so well,_" she purred, gazing into his eyes lovingly. "_Thank you,_" he whispered, drawing her close to him again.

He missed the sickeningly sweet smile.

"_I love you,_" he whispered.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_He should know better. He should know better than to fall in love. But that is just Life. It's not a game. There are no back buttons. He will stick with his decisions and push through until the end._

_If only he could remember his name._

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura was aware that her hands and ankles had been tied together with rope and that she had been blindfolded with some sort of stinky dark cloth, and she was also tied to some thing hard, probably a tree. _Overkill, maybe?_ she thought sourly. She could hear the regular noises of the forest she had become accustomed to, as well as a low murmur of voices maybe five feet from her. "Hey," she said, abruptly ending all conversation. "I'm awake. Now what are you guys going to do to me?"

There was silence, and then a man's voice said uncomfortably, "Hinata, why don't we just untie her? She's not going anywhere."

"No," Hinata said harshly.

The man sighed. "I'm taking off her blindfold."

Sakura felt his hands untie her blindfold and it slipped away, unveiling a forest scene similar to what she had been seeing for the past few days. She judged that it was some time in the afternoon. In front of her were the man and woman who had attacked her and Naruto, the latter of which was looking at her with something akin to a death glare.

Sakura stared back. "Um," said the man, clearing his throat. "I'm sure you're wondering why we tied you up." He cast an accusatory glance towards Hinata.

"Not really," Sakura answered. "I thought it was perfectly natural for you to do so."

"We don't want to hurt you," the man said. "We just need to tell you some things, Outlander."

She said nothing, mulling his words over in her mind. _He called me an Outlander,_ Sakura thought, _not Alice like Naruto did_.

Naruto.

What had happened to him? Where was he?

"Where's Naruto?" she asked, directing her question at the man.

"He's fine," he said guardedly. "Regretfully."

"Regretfully? What do you mean?"

"There's a lot you don't understand about this world, Outlander," Hinata cut in.

"We're going to explain to you," the man said quickly. "First of all, I'm the Dormouse. Shikamaru's my real name. This is Hinata, the White Rabbit." The White Rabbit didn't even nod her head or anything. She just stared at Sakura, who pointedly looked only at Shikamaru. "Sakura," Sakura said grudgingly.

He nodded. "Nice to meet you, well . . . Sorry we have to tie you up."

She shrugged as best as she could in her current position.

Shikamaru sat down beside her, staring up at the patches of sky he could see through the trees. "Everything Naruto told you was a blatant lie," he said.

Sakura started. "What?"

"Well, probably not everything," Shikamaru amended. "What did he tell you?"

Sakura glanced from Shikamaru to Hinata, who was still scrutinizing her intently. What did she have to lose? "He said that I have a role called 'Alice' and that I have to go to the Hearts castle to rescue Sasuke, the Queen of Hearts, because he'll die if I don't." she said.

Shikamaru and Hinata shared a look. "Was he lying?" Sakura demanded to know.

Shikamaru turned to her, rubbing his eyes wearily. "Pretty much; yes," he said. "Sakura, you're not this Alice person. I doubt there even is such a role. Outlanders don't have roles within Wonderland."

She frowned. "How can you tell?"

"Wonderlanders have this sort of sixth sense, Sakura," Shikamaru said. "We can tell exactly who someone is."

"Oh, yeah," Sakura murmured. "Naruto mentioned something like that."

"That's impossible," Hinata snorted. "Naruto's not from this world."

"What do you mean?" Sakura said immediately. "I thought you said people not from this world don't have roles in it. He is the Mad Hatter, right?"

"It's easy enough to take the clothes off a dead man and say you're him, especially if said dead man looks just like you." Hinata said.

Sakura was completely and utterly confused. "I don't get it," she said. "Aren't you his girlfriend? How could you have not known Naruto was lying?"

"The sense we have isn't perfect, Sakura," Shikamaru said. "Sometimes it takes a while before we know who someone really is. We just found out Naruto was an Explosive about three weeks ago."

"What are Explosives?" Sakura asked, lost.

"They're everywhere, the bastards," Hinata said. "They're people who exist to bring disorder to a world."

"Bring disorder . . .?"

"I know it's hard to wrap your head around," Shikamaru said sympathetically. "Explosives come from all different storybook worlds and just try to mess things up, basically. I don't know what their motives are. We've been trying to fight them off here in Hearts Country for months now. Ones like Naruto are moles, trying to undermine us from within."

"I met another Explosive," Sakura said suddenly. "His name was Itachi. He took me here."

Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow. "The Cheshire Cat took you here?"

"See?" Hinata said. "This just proves what I was saying earlier."

"Fine," Shikamaru conceded, though reluctantly. "You might be right."

"What?" Sakura asked, squirming uncomfortably in her bonds.

Shikamaru sighed. "The Explosives brought you here, Hinata believes, to use you to revive a demon that is said to bring the ultimate chaos."

". . . Really." Sakura was skeptical. _Of all the reasons for wanting to bring me here _. . .

"Apparently, you need two Outlanders," Shikamaru said. "Hence the reason for saying this Sasuke dude will die if you don't get to him."

"Sasuke's really here?" Sakura exclaimed.

"I guess so," Shikamaru said, but Sakura noticed that he seemed to be hiding something. "Listen, Sakura, it's probably best if you just go home. That said . . ." He paused. "You can't go home unless you're with Sasuke."

"_What?_"

"It's one of the rules of this place." Hinata said. "Outlanders can't leave without another Outlander."

"So what you're saying is that I need to leave here to avoid becoming part of a ritual to revive a monster, but I can't leave without the man who is also needed for the ritual."

"That sums it up quite nicely."

"I hate this world," Sakura said.

"This world hates you, too; don't worry." Hinata said. Sakura glowered at her.

"What are they going to do with Sasuke?" she asked Shikamaru.

"Well . . ." He stared past her. "Probably he's with another Explosive in the castle, blind to what's really happening just like you were."

"I'm still going to the castle to get him," Sakura said firmly. "I can't leave him in this place and I do want to get home. The chance of dying is still the same, less maybe, because don't they need me alive for this stupid revival thing?"

Shikamaru and Hinata shared another look, but didn't deign to answer Sakura's question. "If you're going, you're going alone." Hinata said. "We don't have men to spare to help you."

"Hinata!" Shikamaru looked shocked. "Don't say things like that! This is the perfect excuse to plan an attack to take back the Hearts castle!"

"Wait!" Sakura interjected. "Hearts castle is under the control of the Explosives?"

"Um . . . yeah . . ."

"Well, that's just lovely," Sakura sighed. "Can you guys at least untie me?"

"Sure, sure." Shikamaru set to work on untying her. Hinata looked like she wanted to object, but she didn't. Sakura stood and stretched. "Now," she said. "You guys are going to tell me why I shouldn't believe you two are lying to me as well."

Shikamaru looked bewildered, but Hinata was staring beyond Sakura into the trees. "Hey . . ." she said. " . . . Is that . . .?"

Sakura turned around to see none other than a scone hanging around on the branch of a tree. When her eyes locked on it, it gave a squeak and hopped off the tree, scampering away from them. "What-" she started to say.

Suddenly, Shikamaru and Hinata sprung up, charging after the scone. "Get that scone!" Shikamaru yelled.

Sakura ran after them, dodging low hanging tree branches and roots jutting out of the ground. She found them stopped near a massive oak tree, panting. "Damn scone," Shikamaru said. "Those pastries are fucking fast."

"What happened?" Sakura asked them.

"The scones work for the Explosives," Hinata said. "That one was spying on us and right now is going to tell the leaders that we're planning on attacking them." She sighed. "Looks like we can't do that anymore."

"It gets better," Shikamaru said sarcastically. "Since they know we've got you and they've pinpointed our location, they'll be sending lower ranked, militia Explosives after us to try and recapture you."

"I agree that that's a bad thing," Sakura said. "But it won't matter once we start moving, right?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Not if we head towards the Hearts castle. The scone heard that part too, so they'll know exactly where to lie in wait for us."

"So what do we do now?" Sakura asked.

"We go back to our base," Shikamaru said. "We can talk to out leader, the White Queen, there and see what she wants us to do."

"How far away is it?" Sakura wanted to know.

"Not far," Shikamaru answered. "We can get there by the end of the day if we start moving now. C'mon, let's get back to the camp."

They went back to the camp, collecting their things. Shikamaru handed Sakura her gun, saying, "That's a very nice gun. Where'd you get it?" She replied, "Just found it lying around."

Her mind was still whirling with what the Dormouse and the White Rabbit had told her. She still needed to figure out if they were telling the truth or not. Naruto hadn't seemed the least bit untrustworthy, but apparently he was lying to her so he could sacrifice her to some monster or something like that. She needed to figure out some way to tell if Shikamaru and Hinata were lying or not, though she supposed if they arrived at a camp where everybody was telling her the same thing it had to be at least somewhat true.

They walked in complete silence, everybody preoccupied with their own thoughts. Sakura couldn't help but feel worried for Sasuke. She wondered what was he was doing right now. Was he even thinking about her?

Of course not, she thought quickly. Sasuke was probably mad he was here only because he missing out on time at the club. Stupid Sasuke.

"Did you just call me stupid?" Shikamaru asked mildly, like he didn't really care if that was the case.

"No," she said. "I was referring to someone else."

"I hope it's not me," called out Hinata from the front.

"It's not you either," Sakura said.

"Then who is it?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura blushed. "Um, Naruto. He's stupid."

"Very stupid," said Hinata with an edge to her voice.

Silence fell between them again.

Hinata was up ahead, so Sakura thought she could risk talking about her a little bit. "What exactly is the deal between Hinata and Naruto?" she whispered to Shikamaru. "I mean, besides the fact that they're on different sides."

"Naruto's cheating on Hinata," Shikamaru whispered back. "Kind of ruined their relationship, you know."

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, I do know."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Night fell on Wonderland, wrapping it in a cloak of blackness that made walking nearly impossible. "Can't we wait until morning?" she grumbled to Shikamaru after she tripped on her fourth tree root.

"We're almost there, Sakura," he said. "Only ten more minutes or so."

"Good," Sakura said, right before she got smacked in the face by a branch.

"I see camp lights up ahead," Hinata called from ahead of them. Brushing twigs out of her hair, Sakura squinted through the trees to spot a glimmer of orange light. "Thank the Lord," she muttered to herself.

They walked closer to the light and pretty soon there were more of them, along with the low murmurs of voices. They emerged into a clearing full of tents and card soldiers walking about. "Hey!" one exclaimed. "The White Rabbit and the Dormouse are back!"

Other card soldiers looked up and some ran over, giving Hinata and Shikamaru welcoming hugs. Hinata looked like she wanted to punch them in the face. "Who's this?" a three of hearts asked them, looking curiously towards Sakura. "The other Outlander," Shikamaru said.

"Oh, you found her?" the card exclaimed. "Good!" He faced Sakura and bowed. "Three of Hearts at your service!"

She curtsied. "Sakura."

"C'mon, let's get to the Queen," Shikamaru said, taking her arm and pulling her through the camp.

"Your ranks seem very . . . thin." Sakura observed as she, Shikamaru, and Hinata walked to wherever the Queen was.

"Of course they are," Hinata said. "The attack on the castle was a surprise one. Not many people made it out alive."

Sakura was silent.

"Especially since they had a very effective killing machine with them," Hinata added. Sakura looked up at her, a question forming on her lips, but Shikamaru told her to stop, and silence fell between the three again.

They approached a tent that was much larger than the others and was guarded by several burly looking soldiers. Sakura supposed this was the White Queen's tent. "When we meet the White Queen," Shikamaru whispered to her. "Curtsy and let us do the talking. Don't look directly at her."

Sakura nodded her understanding as the soldiers let them into the tent.

It consisted of a table, a sleeping bag, and a few bags strewn across the floor. Despite the big tent, it didn't look like the Queen lived more extravagantly than her soldiers did.

She was sitting at the table and rose to meet them when the three approached. She was a very beautiful woman, Sakura noted, though the red eyes she had were disconcerting. Sakura wondered if they were real, but then thought that Wonderland probably didn't have contacts. "Shikamaru, Hinata, you're back," the White Queen said, and her tone was blank. "And it appears you've brought someone with you."

Sakura curtsied, remembering what Shikamaru told her. "This is Sakura, Queen," he said. "She is the other Outlander."

"Good." The Queen turned back to a map she had on her table. "Keep her here then, for the time being."

"What?" Sakura exclaimed, unable to help herself. "No, I need to go to the Hearts castle and get Sasuke back so we can go home!"

The Dormouse and the White Rabbit looked like they wanted to shoot her in the head, but she faced the White Queen determinedly, who stared apathetically back. "Sakura," the Queen said slowly. "I am merely a general in the Hearts army. I do not have enough men to spare to help you while you traipse across Wonderland when there is a country that needs defending. You will stay here with the White Rabbit and Dormouse."

Sakura wanted to punch the Queen in the face, but decided it wouldn't be the smartest decision. Instead, she walked right out of the tent, fuming. She heard the Dormouse call out to her, but she didn't turn around. "Wait, Sakura, wait," Shikamaru said.

"How could she?" Sakura burst out, whipping around to face Hinata and Shikamaru. "How could she do nothing when Sasuke's life is in danger?"

"Sakura," Shikamaru began, trying not to sound like he was being patronizing. "From a tactical standpoint, it makes sense. We have to keep you away from Sasuke so the Explosives can't do their stupid summoning thing. Feelings don't really matter for stuff like this."

"I agree with Sakura," Hinata said suddenly. Sakura and the Dormouse stared at her with undisguised astonishment. "You agree with me?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yes," Hinata said firmly, folding her arms. "Think about it. If Sasuke and Sakura never get home, there will be an investigation started back on Earth that could prove troublesome for us if we want to keep Wonderland a secret. Getting those two back home will save us a lot of trouble in the future. Besides, it isn't really a good idea for them to be running around Wonderland when they could get hurt." Hinata gave Sakura the barest of smiles, and she returned it. _It's a start_, she thought.

"You've convinced me," Shikamaru said readily, and Sakura thought he was probably hoping Hinata would say something like that. "Only problem is, where are we going to get supplies without anybody wondering? And the three of us can't go alone, either. We're being hunted by Explosive militia, remember?"

"We could say we're going hunting," Hinata suggested. "Most hunting trips take three or four days and that's how long it'll take us to get to the Hearts castle."

Shikamaru nodded. "And extra people?" Sakura pressed.

"I've got a few friends who might be willing to help out," Hinata said.

"Who?" Shikamaru asked.

"The March Hare and the Caterpillar," Hinata said. Shikamaru nodded.

"Let's spend the night here," he said. "Then tomorrow morning we'll grab the stuff we need and head off."

Sakura nodded, but she had one question still in mind. "Um, where am I sleeping?"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

In the small tent she was sharing with Hinata, Sakura tried to sleep but found that she just couldn't. She got and crept out of the tent carefully, so as not to disturb Hinata.

The camp was still buzzing with activity, and no one paid Sakura any mind as she walked around. She felt so confused, so lost, and she was traveling around with people she barely knew that she would have to trust with her life. Sakura sighed.

"Is something bothering you, Outlander?"

Sakura turned around so see a man sitting on the ground next what she assumed was his tent. She couldn't see his features very well in the darkness, but she thought she caught a glimpse of dark red hair. "I don't know you," she said cautiously.

The man stood up and extended an arm out towards her. She shook his hand once before dropping it. "Gaara," the man said, his voice a careful monotone.

"Sakura," she said.

An awkward silence fell between them as the two stared at each other. "What are you doing all the way out here, Sakura?" Gaara asked after a while, folding his arms.

"It wasn't really my choice," Sakura said, thinking of the awful time she'd been having in Wonderland. "I was brought here against my own will."

Speaking of that, if she ever saw Itachi again, she would kick the asshole in the balls.

"Of course you were," Gaara was quick to say. "Who would ever want to come here?"

The comment made Sakura actually start to smile, when a sudden wave of pain hit her, and she doubled over gasping-

-_he watched the pendulum swing back and forth, back and forth, and he was so bored where was his Duchess_-

"Sakura?"

-_he clutched the arm of the throne for support as he gasped in pain it hurt so badly what was going on-_

She felt someone grab her shoulders and she slumped into him, losing control of her limbs because it hurt so freaking bad-

-_forcing himself up onto the throne even though it hurt why was this happening was it because he had been rude to his Duchess the other day-_

Finally, the pain began to recede and Sakura found herself slumped into Gaara, who held her out and asked with an edge in his voice, "What's the matter with you?"

She shook her head wearily. "I don't know-

-_suddenly he was fine he could move again good because he needed to move to rule the Country of Hearts_-

"I heard . . ." Sakura paused, trying to find the right words to describe it. "It sounded like the thoughts of someone else in my head, and he was in pain too . . ."

Gaara studied her face closely, and then said, "I have no idea what just happened, Sakura. Maybe you'd better get back to your tent and go to sleep."

Sakura sighed and agreed. Gaara helped her stand, and then walked her back to her tent. "Thanks," she mumbled out before she went back inside. He nodded once before disappearing back inside.

Sakura carefully crept over Hinata towards her sleeping bag. Sighing, she cocooned herself in blankets, wondering what the hell just happened to her.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_Let me take you to another world. Why? Well, because you're crying, of course. Isn't a storybook world cause enough to make you cheer up?_

_Oh, well, it's not the nicest place to be. It may be called Wonderland but I daresay there's absolutely nothing wondrous about it-_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Sakura." Someone was shaking her shoulder, waking her up and pulling her out of her strange dream. She sat up blearily, recalling the last vestiges of it. She swore Itachi was in it, and she had been chasing after him, trying to kick him where it counted, but she couldn't, because he was so much faster than her.

Hinata was already packing her things into her bag. "What time is it?" Sakura asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Four thirty," Hinata answered.

". . . It's early."

"Has to be," the White Rabbit said, throwing her pack over her shoulder. "We have to wake up this early if we're to get all the supplies we need and still leave at a reasonable time."

"What's a reasonable time?" Sakura wondered out loud dryly. "Six?"

"Yep."

Sakura rolled up her sleeping bag and tucked her gun into her pants. "Um, am I getting a change of clothes?" she asked, thinking disgustedly how she had been wearing the same clothes for two days now.

"Of course," Hinata said. "We're not that mean, Sakura."

"Thanks, I guess."

Sakura followed Hinata out of the tent. "Just stay here," Hinata said. "You'll slow us down since you don't know where everything is. I'll get your stuff for you."

Sakura nodded, not really in the mood to argue, and sat on the ground, watching random people go by. The camp seemed busy permanently, but Sakura couldn't imagine why. She never saw anybody leave the place.

Hinata came back several times, her arms full of stuff for Sakura. She now had three sets of clothes Hinata called 'woodland getup', a holster for her gun, a knife Sakura was fairly sure she would never use, and her own pack to carry supplies in. She was told that she would have to carry some of the necessities like food, and Sakura thought that was quite fair.

The three of them were standing in a circle, all ready to go. "I have to tell you guys something," Sakura said suddenly, remembering her strange episode last night.

"Well, looks like we have time to chat, since the Caterpillar and the March Hare are late," Shikamaru said, looking around for them.

"Really, where are they?" Hinata muttered to herself.

"Last night I was walking around the camp when I suddenly felt a pain run through my body. I heard someone else's thoughts in my head and he was in pain, too." Sakura said, looking past her friends at a person who kept falling off their horse. "Do you guys have any idea what happened to me?" she asked, wrenching her eyes from the unfortunate man to search their faces.

Shikamaru and Hinata frowned, both of them thinking intently about what Sakura said. "Did you recognize the thoughts in your head? I mean, do you think you know whose thoughts they were?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura thought about it, but then shook her head. "No, I don't know whose they were." she finally said. "They did sound a _little_ familiar, but I'm not really sure."

"Okay," Shikamaru said. "I was thinking that maybe those were Sasuke's thoughts in your head."

"That's what I was thinking, too." Hinata said.

Sakura frowned. "Why Sasuke?"

"Well, you two are Outlanders who are both from Earth, so I thought maybe you would have some sort of connection, you know what I mean?" Shikamaru said. Sakura nodded. The Dormouse sighed. "But I don't really know what's going on."

"Hey," Hinata said, pointing behind Sakura. "They're finally here."

Sakura turned around. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "I recognize one of those guys!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

_So it begins again_

_With lots of lies and a few goodbyes,_

_Off we go into the lion's den_

.

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Please review.**


	4. 004: Love

**explosive**

**Author's note1: I really can't write Gaara and Neji that well . . . I'M SORRY!**

**Author's note2: For those of you who haven't figured it out, Wonderland refers to the whole world. The country of Hearts is the country they are in.**

**If you care: I loved Sasuke. A lot. Then he went crazy. The hot ones are always gay or crazy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

At first she thought she could just ignore it. It was just a dull pain somewhere around her heart and she thought it would go away. Smile to mask the pain and eventually the smiles wouldn't be fake because the pain would be gone. But it didn't go away. Her smile turned into a grimace as the pain grew more painful, hotter, and spread all through her body. She let out a cry. Her body was on _fire_! A fire consuming every part of her, making her crumple to the ground. Dimly, she heard someone yell out her name but she couldn't respond; it hurt so bad. Her entire body was on _fire_; she could see her hand and it was bright red with flames. As she watched the skin burned away, leaving nothing but a blackened stump. She screamed. She felt someone holding her and she cried out, "No!" Couldn't they see the fire surrounding her? Didn't they realize they would get burned too?

Suddenly it was receding away. The fire crawled back to her heart and stayed there, until she pressed a hand to her chest and put it out with the hand that should be a stump but was fine. Her breath came out in gasps as she heard the voice, clear as day in her mind.

"_Things are going quite well, wouldn't you say?_"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_Things are going quite well, wouldn't you say?"_

_The question was directed at the Queen of Hearts, who was sitting in his throne in a most relaxed manner. He lifted an eyebrow at the inquiry. The _(fake) _Mad Hatter could see the bags underneath his eyes, and it occurred to him that the Queen was relaxing in his throne not out of any disrespect for the Hatter and his companions, but because he was dead tired. The Hatter supposed the things the Duchess might asking him to do might be beyond the normal capabilities of a human. But this kid had proven himself more than a normal human . . ._

_He supposed he shouldn't call the Queen a kid. He looked older than the Hatter was._

"_You say things are going _well_?" the Cheshire Cat asked sardonically from behind him. The Hatter turned to see the man leaning against a rather oversized statue of a Queen of Hearts from the past. The current Queen gazed up at his predecessor like he was embarrassed the statue could see what was going on in the once free throne room of Hearts. The Cat spoke again, and the Queen's tired eyes slid over to stare at the older man. "Things are not exactly 'well', Hatter," the Cheshire Cat continued. "Are you forgetting the fact that you lost the other Outlander to the Dormouse and your girlfriend?"_

_The Hatter winced slightly at the mention of the White Rabbit, but recovered quickly, saying in that overbearingly cheerful way of his, "I don't think we're dating anymore. She thinks I'm cheating on her with the Duchess."_

"_What?" the Queen burst out, leaning forward in his throne. His eyes were wide. "_My _Duchess?"_

"_Calm, down, pretty boy," the Hatter said carelessly, motioning for the Queen of Hearts to sit back down. He did so, leaning back in his chair reluctantly. "It's not true, of course. I don't even like to look at her. But it's making the poor little Rabbit mad, so why not let her believe that?"_

_The Cat shrugged apathetically. "I actually don't care either way." he said. "That Rabbit doesn't matter to me. She's not a threat."_

"_Don't write her off so quickly," the Hatter warned, as the doors to the throne room burst open. The Duchess came through, her long blonde hair flying out behind her as she stomped towards the three men. "How come _no one_ ever bothers to tell me when we're having a meeting?" she snarled at them._

"_I sent someone to tell you," the Queen said, his tone wobbly and wary of a rebuke._

"_I'm not blaming you, honey," she said, running up to him to press a quick kiss against his forehead. The Queen stared up at her adoringly. The Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter looked at each other and saw their exasperation reflected in the other's face. The Duchess wheeled around to face them, hands on her hips. "Now, what's this I hear about the other Outlander getting away?"_

"_Ask him," the Cat said, jerking a thumb in the Hatter's direction._

"_It wasn't on purpose," he huffed. "I was attacked by the Dormouse and the White Rabbit."_

_The Duchess looked skyward, as if pleading with God to give her less stupid companions. "Did you at least spread around that fake rumor about the stupid summoning thing?"_

"_Of course I did!" the Mad Hatter said indignantly. "Do you doubt me?"_

"_To be honest? Yes."_

_The Hatter opened his mouth to retort something back, but the Cat quickly cut him off, saying, "How are we going to get the other Outlander back?"_

_The Queen of Hearts stroked the Duchess's hand, for all appearances bored and uninterested, but he was listening intently, committing every word to memory ((and he didn't really know why something told him to the pink haired girl-))_

"_That girl will come here on her own," the Duchess said dismissively. "She'll want to save her little friend here, I bet you anything." The Queen smiled at her when he was mentioned, and she smiled back quickly. She turned to face her companions, rolling her eyes. The Hatter disguised a laugh as a cough._

_The Cat seemed dissatisfied with the Duchess's logic. "The scone we sent to spy on them got back yesterday," he said eventually. "He did say she wanted to go to Heart castle, but he was caught by them, so we know they know he overheard them. I don't think they'll be so keen to go to the castle anymore." He sighed. "They're probably at the White Queen's camp. We still have that one lower ranked Explosive hiding out there, right?" The Hatter and the Duchess nodded. "Then I'll head out and see what they're going to do next." He made to leave the throne room without even checking with the other Explosives to see if his plan was okay. "Don't forget to bring some militia with you!" the Duchess called out. He waved a hand in acknowledgement. _

_Meanwhile, the Queen of Hearts watched him leave, his smile masking the dull pain he felt in his heart._

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura came to sprawled across the ground, finding that, once again, she was lying in Gaara's lap. He stared at her with concern. She noticed that he had very intense red hair and a pair of brilliant, almost turquoise colored eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she mumbled, pushing herself up. Shikamaru, Hinata, and one other man she didn't recognize were crouching on the ground beside her. The other man looked extremely similar to Hinata and had notably long black hair that went to his waist. Sakura wondered how long it took for him to grow it that long.

They were still in the camp site, soldiers going about their business and not paying the five people on the ground any mind. Gaara helped her stand, and the other three did also. "What happened?" Shikamaru asked her, confusion and worry in his tone. "Was it the same thing that happened to you last night?"

"No." Sakura shook her head. "It hurt more, and I didn't hear the same guy's voice."

"You heard someone else's voice?" Gaara asked, hands lingering on her shoulders longer than necessary.

"Yeah," she started to say, and then her voice dropped to a whisper. "I think I heard _Naruto's_ voice." she said, almost ashamedly.

Nobody deigned to comment on that, and Shikamaru cleared his throat, beginning awkwardly, "Well, Sakura, this is Gaara, the March Hare, and this is Neji, the Caterpillar." Neji nodded politely at her and she smiled back. "Sakura and I have already met," Gaara said, his deep voice a monotone. "Last night, when she had her other . . . episode."

Sakura blushed slightly. "What exactly happened?" Neji asked, looking at each of his new traveling buddies.

Hinata opened her mouth to explain, but then a very imperious voice called out, "Now, where might you five be going?"

The five of them wheeled around to see the White Queen herself approaching with several card soldiers, a frown on her face. Sakura was at a loss for words and was only thinking that they were most likely screwed.

The Queen stopped in front of them, arms folded. She looked angry, like she knew exactly where they were planning to go.

The Rescue Sasuke Brigade did their best to stare back at the Queen unflinchingly. "We were planning on showing Sakura around the camp," Shikamaru lied smoothly. "I was thinking we could show her all of our hunting places too."

Sakura decided that the White Queen was quite the idiot. The White Queen simply nodded and walked away, calling out a goodbye over her shoulder. As soon as she was gone, everybody in the Rescue Sasuke Brigade looked at each other and started laughing.

(Meaning that Sakura, Shikamaru, and Hinata laughed, and Neji and Gaara smiled politely.)

"How did she become the general of an army when she's such an _idiot_?" Sakura asked after their laughing fit was over.

"I don't know . . ." Neji said, rolling his eyes.

"C'mon, let's get out of here before she comes back," Hinata said. With that said, the group left the camp without being questioned by anybody.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Night had fallen, and the group was huddled around a fire, eating some truly delicious dried meat- or something like that. Sakura didn't really know. She was just eating what was given to her. "So, do we have a definite plan or anything?" Neji asked, the fire casting an eerie glow on his face.

Shikamaru shrugged, mostly everybody missing the action due to the darkness. "Not really," he said. "Right now it's to get to the Hearts castle in one piece and make sure Sakura doesn't die or anything annoying like that." Sakura sent him a half-hearted glare, another action missed by the group in the darkness.

"Who did you say was trying to kill us again?" Gaara asked, as if discussing the weather.

"Probably some lower ranked Explosive militia," Hinata answered. "Maybe, if we're lucky, we can draw out some of the more important ones and hopefully take them out."

"You mean like Itachi?" Sakura asked, finishing her dried meat (or whatever it was).

"No, not him," Shikamaru said immediately. "He's up there in the Explosive hierarchy, Sakura. He's one of the leaders. He wouldn't come all the way out here just to try to capture someone."

"Oh." Sakura stared into the fire, probably damaging her retinas for all eternity. Then she dragged her eyes back up to the faces of the members of her groups, preparing to say something she'd been wanting to say the whole day. "I just want to tell you guys thanks," she said humbly. "I'm really grateful you would help me out when you barely know me."

Neji seemed pleased with her thank you. Gaara said dismissively, "It's no big deal." Hinata shrugged and Shikamaru seemed almost embarrassed.

"It's not like we could really leave you here in this hellhole of a world," Hinata said. Sakura smiled, but then it faded away. "What's going to happen when I'm gone?" she asked anxiously.

"Well . . ." Shikamaru said, almost contemplatively. "Hopefully we can kill some of the higher ranked Explosives when we get to Hearts castle. That would really decimate their ranks." Sakura had no comment. She still wasn't really comfortable with the whole 'kill people' thing.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura," Shikamaru said to her. "Right now our focus is getting you home."

"And Sasuke, too," Sakura reminded him.

"And Sasuke."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

As seemed to be the case lately, Sakura just couldn't get to sleep. She got up and, careful not to step on anybody, walked over to Neji, who was sitting off to the side, staring out at nothing. "Hey," she greeted him in a whisper. "Hello," he whispered back. "What are you doing up?"

"Can't sleep," she said, settling down beside him. They sat in silence for a while, but Sakura finally broke it, with a "Are you and Hinata related?"

"What gave it away?" Neji asked, slight sarcasm threaded through his tone.

"You look alike," Sakura said, missing the sarcasm. Both Hinata and Neji had strange white eyes, dark hair, and pale skin.

"We're cousins," Neji told her. "We've been with each other for a long time. Both of our parents died in the Explosive's initial attack."

Sakura gave him her full attention, surprised that Neji, who had proven himself to be a quiet person, was divulging this information so easily to Sakura. "How long have the Explosives been attacking Wonderland?"

"Not the entirety of Wonderland," Neji corrected her. He seemed to be one of those people who had to have everything exact and perfect, Sakura noted. "Just Hearts country. And the attack was ten years ago, I think."

"That's a long time to be in a war," Sakura commented.

Neji shrugged. "France and England were in a war for a hundred years."

"That's true- Hey, how do you know about that?"

"I've been to Earth before," Neji said. "I liked it better than here."

"Then why did you come back?" Sakura asked.

Neji stared out at nothing again, taking his time before answering. "There were people who needed me here," he said eventually.

". . . Oh." The pair fell into silence again, listening to the snoring of their companions. "Do you mind if I ask you a question, Sakura?" Neji asked her.

"Sure," Sakura said, a little surprised that he was asking her permission.

"Why do you want to rescue Sasuke so badly?"

Sakura winced a little. It was almost the same question Naruto- the faker- had asked her. But while Naruto had been trying to test her, Neji seemed like he genuinely wanted to know, like he wanted to understand her better. "Well," Sakura started. "He and I are . . . Well, he's my ex-boyfriend, but we spent a lot of time together, and I care about him, you know?"

"You mean you still love him?" Neji asked.

"No!" Sakura said quickly, her voice rising. Glancing at her sleeping companions, Sakura lowered her voice and said, "I never loved him, I don't think. But I can't just leave him here. I _have_ to save him."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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004:

((_you still love him_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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I just don't know anything anymore.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura was shaken awake by Neji approximately three hours later, at a time most people referred to as the crack of dawn. Everybody was up and alert but Sakura, who was stumbling as she walked around, her mind still foggy with sleepiness.

"Did you sneak some drugs into your pack that we don't know about, Sakura?" Gaara asked dryly as she nearly smacked into him.

"Oh, shut up," Sakura mumbled out, her words not even close to having the bite she intended them to have.

"Breakfast, everybody," Hinata called out, holding up something that looked suspiciously not like breakfast. Sakura sighed and went over to take some anyways, thinking _this is for you, Sasuke_ as she took a bite of the not-breakfast.

And so the Rescue Sasuke Brigade set off through the forest, beginning a long trek across the country of Hearts. Well, they actually started yesterday, but that was beside the point. "One more day here," Shikamaru said, holding out a map in front of him and nearly pulling a Sakura by almost banging into several trees. "Then we get into the grasslands, which should be a real treat." He looked over at Sakura, who was frowning in confusion. "The grasslands are drying out," he explained. "We think they're going to turn into a desert."

"Well, that's not going to happen any time soon," Sakura said, thinking of her knowledge of geography and history (which was admittedly less than it should be).

"In Wonderland it could," Shikamaru said.

". . . Well, Wonderland is an awfully strange place."

Shikamaru frowned. "Really? I've never thought of it as strange before."

Sakura chose to say nothing.

The group walked on, the hot sun barely reaching them through the trees. Sakura wondered if, despite the map, anybody actually knew where they were going. It seemed that they went in one direction only, never even adjusting their course. "Have any of you even been to Hearts castle before?" Sakura asked Gaara, who she was walking with in the front of the group.

"All of us have," Gaara replied in the careful monotone he seemed to prefer over emotions. "We're all familiar with this area, Sakura."

"Oh, well, that's good, I guess." Sakura stared out at a bird, which flew away almost as soon as her eyes landed on it. She concluded that this world really just didn't like her.

"Do you know the layout of the castle well, too?" Sakura asked Gaara when the bird was gone.

He paused, but it was a barely perceptible pause that Sakura missed completely. "Yes," he answered. "You don't have to worry about getting lost, unless you're on your own, of course."

"Where do you think Sasuke would be?" Sakura asked, firing off the questions like there was no tomorrow.

"Most likely with the Duchess or in the throne room," Gaara said easily, and Sakura frowned. "Who's the Duchess?" she asked.

"She's another one of the Explosive leaders." Gaara said. "Her name is Ino. You'll know her when you see her. Long blonde hair, pale."

"Why would Sasuke be with her?" Sakura questioned, trying to sort it all out.

The tiniest bit of surprise flitted across Gaara's face, but he masked it almost immediately with his usual blank expression. "To keep an eye on him," he said.

Sakura thought that made sense. "Why would he be in the throne room?"

Gaara took a while before answering. Sakura wondered what was going on in his mind. "Sakura," he said finally. "I don't think anyone's told you, but Sasuke is under the control of the Duchess."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. That was certainly the first time she'd heard that, and it took her by surprise.

"Sasuke won't be exactly who you remember when you finally reach him in the castle." Gaara said.

His words were, without a doubt, ominous.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_There's something a little off about Gaara, don't you think?_"

The words were uttered so quietly that Hinata, staring out at Gaara and Sakura up ahead of them, barely heard them. She glanced over at Shikamaru on her left side. He was looking intently at the map, giving no indication that he had spoken. "_I sensed something wrong, too,_" Hinata affirmed quietly.

"_Maybe he's upset,_" Neji said, his voice a low monotone from behind them as he dug into his pack for a drink of water.

"_Do you think we should ask him?_" Shikamaru said in that same quiet, unobtrusive manner, nose buried in his map.

"_I wouldn't,_" Neji said. "_We don't want to give him the wrong ideas._"

Hinata agreed with her cousin but chose not to say so, thinking it was better if they kept the conversation to a minimum. She glanced briefly over at Gaara, feeling the small hints of a dark, almost poisonous aura radiating off of him. "_We'll figure it out eventually,_" Shikamaru said.

"_Hopefully not too late,_" Hinata murmured, mostly to herself.

Sakura and Gaara seemed to be having an interesting conversation, judging by the amount of frowning and shocked expressions Sakura was doing. Hinata almost wished that she could hear what they were talking about, but then pushed that feeling away. Who cared what they were talking about? She had more important stuff to worry about.

Shikamaru shoved her to the ground before she even registered the threat, so caught up in her own thoughts.

At first she'd thought Shikamaru had attacked her. She pulled out her handgun from her holster and pointed at him, but realized there was something not right. A poisonous aura was creeping into the area, seeping into her very bones. Everyone around her had their guns pulled out, even Sakura, but she was confused as usual, asking Gaara, "_What's going on?_" Hinata noticed, with a slight burst of irritation, that Sakura had the nicest gun out of all of them. Well, maybe Neji's submachine gun was nicer. That was a pretty sexy gun, Hinata had to admit. If Neji died, she'd have to take that gun from him.

But Hinata didn't really like to think about Neji dying.

All of this happened in the span of a few moments before a gunshot rang out and a bullet sailed through the air, right where Hinata had been. It smashed into a tree beside Sakura, who shrieked and jumped into Gaara. "_Down!_" he growled, and Sakura obediently fell into a crouch.

Neji whipped around and fired off several shots into the trees behind him. Hinata heard a yelp and then someone came crashing out of the trees, clutching their shoulder. Suddenly, the poisonous aura grew even thicker and Hinata became aware of several people, surrounding them, intent on killing them.

Explosives. All of them.

They worked with Naruto.

If Hinata killed them all, that would be hurting Naruto.

She got into a crouch and aimed her gun at the man Neji had shot earlier, who was rolling on the ground in pain, and shot in right in the face.

He was dead.

One down.

Gunshots exploded all around them. The fight had begun. Gaara shouted at Sakura to hide in the trees, and she did so, crawling away for her life. Hinata stopped caring for anybody's life, including her own. All she wanted was to kill every single one of these Explosive bastards, so that she could finally bring pain to Naruto like he had done to her.

She took them down, one after another. She was unstoppable; nothing could stop her, not even the gunshots flying towards her. She was invincible; nothing could hurt her. She spun and twirled and shot, every one of the bullets aiming to kill her missing. Dimly, she heard someone shouting at her, but only the sight of the dead bodies of all her enemies could pull her out of the state she was in.

"_No! Hinata, stop! We need one alive!_"

In her twirling and spinning and shooting, she had ended up beside Gaara, who shot at his adversaries with the same coldness Hinata was killing with. Except, Gaara was hardly even moving, since no bullets were even coming near him. And, Gaara was aiming at Neji.

Hinata snapped out of her killing state to let out a feral sounding scream.

She tackled Gaara. She really should've just shot him, but with the adrenaline pounding through her, Hinata decided to tackle him. Never mind the fact that Gaara probably had ten inches on her. Hinata was feeling invincible, and truly thought she could knock Gaara down.

Surprised, he stumbled backwards, dropping his gun. Hinata made to punch him somewhere where it hurt, but he managed to shove her off of him, where she landed hard next to Gaara's gun. She scrambled to put a bullet through him with her own gun, but Gaara was bringing his foot down, down down on Hinata's throat.

A gunshot rang out. That in itself was rather unremarkable, since they were locked in a gun fight. But the bullet that accompanied the gunshot buried itself into Gaara's midsection, and he let out a cry of pain, bringing his foot down on Hinata's stomach instead, which still hurt, but she would have bruises now as opposed to the less attractive option of being dead.

Hinata was grateful to whoever fired that shot, but right now, she wasn't really focusing on her savior. She fumbled around for her gun and pointed it up at Gaara, intending to shoot the bastard in the face and end it all.

Someone kicked her head, snapping it over to the right and causing Hinata to see some pretty twinkling lights. She was rendered incapable as a male Explosive lifted up Gaara and carried him away, retreating along with his fellow Explosives.

It all happened so fast.

As soon as he knew they were gone, Neji rushed over to Hinata, worry across his normally impassive features. "_Hinata, are you alright?_" he asked her.

"_Are _you_ alright?_" she croaked out, noticing that there seemed to be no visible wounds on Neji's body.

Neji seemed not to have heard. "_Stupid question, of course you're not alright,_" he berated himself. "_You're bleeding from your forehead. Shikamaru!_" he called out to the apparently unharmed Dormouse. "_Where's our medical kit?_"

Shikamaru was bended over the body of man who was not quite dead yet. "_In my pack,_" he said distractedly, shrugging off said pack and tossing it to Neji.

"_Hold still, Hinata,_" he ordered, digging around for the medical kit in Shikamaru's pack.

"_Neji, I'm fine._" Hinata sat up, wincing slightly at the little throbs of pain in her abdomen as she did so.

Neji didn't listen to her, rubbing a salve that stung onto her forehead wound and then wrapping a bandage tightly around it. Hinata would've preferred to do it herself, but chose not to argue with her cousin. "_Who fired the shot that hit Gaara?_" Hinata asked when he was done.

"_Sakura,_" Neji answered, placing the kit back in Shikamaru's pack.

Hinata was surprised. "_Sakura did?_"

Said pink haired girl came walking out of the trees, an anxious expression on her face. "_Is everyone alright?_" she asked, fingering her handgun nervously.

"_We're fine,_" Hinata said, rather shortly.

"_I was so scared when I saw Gaara try to kill you!_" Sakura burst out, arms flailing. "_I'm sorry you still got hurt, Hinata._"

"_It's. . . It's okay._" Hinata was mildly surprised to find that she wasn't even mad or anything. "_Thanks for saving me._" She offered Sakura a small smile, and she returned it warmly.

"_Guys,_" Shikamaru called. "_This one is still alive._"

The three of them walked over to Shikamaru, and sat down next to the man, whose shirt was soaked with blood. "_Who sent you?_" Shikamaru said harshly.

The man seemed to have no inhibitions about giving information away about the attack. He was an Explosive, after all. Maybe he thought giving away the information would bring more chaos, Hinata reasoned.

"_Itachi Uchiha,_" the man groaned out, clearly on the brink of death.

"_What was your objective?_" Shikamaru asked, shaking him slightly.

"_Capture the Outlander and kill her companions,_" the man answered quickly.

The answer seemed to go along with everything Hinata knew, but something apparently didn't sit quite well with Shikamaru, for he asked, "_Why?_"

"_We need the girl . . . to be in the army. . ._" the Explosive wheezed out, clearly expending much effort to do so.

Everyone in the group looked at each other and frowned. "_Alright,_" Shikamaru muttered. "_Why do you need Sakura to be in your army?_"

The man opened his mouth to answer, but one last gunshot rang out, hitting him cleanly between the eyes.

Everyone jumped up, pulling out their respective guns. Hinata glimpsed a figure running away from them, a male, she thought. She made to chase after him, but someone held her back. "_Don't bother, Hinata,_" Shikamaru said. "_It's too dangerous to chase after him._"

Hinata realized the sense in his words. It could be a trap, the fleeing man could be one of the hard to beat leaders . . . She sighed and nodded her understanding.

"_That was Itachi Uchiha!_" Sakura said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her.

"_He brought me down here,_" Sakura said defensively. "_I know what he looks like pretty well._"

"_Then we should've chased after him,_" Hinata muttered, a bit sourly.

"_Too late now,_" Shikamaru responded.

"_Why does Itachi have the same last name as Sasuke?_" Sakura asked the group, like she thought they would actually know. "_Uchiha isn't a very common last name, is it?_"

"_I didn't even know Sasuke's last name was Uchiha,_" Hinata said, and then Neji piped in with a, "_Does Sasuke have any brothers?_"

"_Yes,_" Sakura said immediately. "_But he died a few years back from an accident of some sort. . . I'm not really sure how. Sasuke doesn't like to talk about it._"

"_Did he look like Itachi?_" Neji stressed. Shikamaru's eyes lit up with understanding, and suddenly, Hinata got it too.

"_Noo . . ._" Sakura said slowly. She frowned. "_Actually, I can't remember what his brother looked like._"

Hinata exchanged a brief glance with Shikamaru. Neji said, "_Well, never mind, then._"

The frown was still on Sakura's face, but she didn't say anything.

Some questions are better left unanswered, Hinata supposed.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

It sucked, really, that Gaara was an Explosive.

The mood in the group of now four people was subdued as they trekked on through the forest Sakura was beginning to think as infernal. She hated it, she really did. A lot of bad, horrible, and flat out confusing stuff had happened in this forest, and Sakura couldn't wait to be out of it.

The three Wonderlanders said they'd felt something odd radiating off of Gaara, but they hadn't been able to pinpoint it. They had decided to just wait to see if something would happen, which of course something did. Sakura supposed they were lucky to get out of that fight alive.

It had all been due to Hinata. The girl was a fighting machine when she wanted to be. Nothing could take her down.

Nobody had said anything to Hinata, but she had been shouting something about Naruto when she was fighting. Sakura was thinking that Hinata's hatred for Naruto made her fight so hard, because she wanted him to hurt that badly.

It was a scary thought, for sure.

Sakura realized, that wrapped up in her thoughts, she had fallen farther and farther behind her group. "Hey, wait up," she called, running after them.

The forest was growing darker and darker, and suddenly her friends weren't there anymore. Sakura was standing in a big clearing soaked in darkness and she wondered what the hell was going on. She pulled out her gun nervously, but nearly dropped it when she heard someone speak.

"Now, why are you here, Sakura dear?"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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_To Sakura, what's going to happen now?_

_Maybe stealing, murder, maybe he'll hurt her_

_In which case we'll tell the Explosives to take a bow . . ._

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Wow. This chapter was long. Anyways, please leave a review. Even if you hated it.**


	5. 005: Savior

**explosive**

**Author's note1: Thanks so much for the reviews, everyone! I really appreciate it.**

**Author's note2: You know, it's only been THREE DAYS in the story so far. Wow. I thought much more time had passed. **

**Author's note3: Aha! Now the characters will have depth to them! Oh, and there's some role reversal here . . . if you spot it . . . . **

**If you care: Why can't people at my school look like the Uchiha brothers? Why is everyone so UGLY?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_The Queen of Hearts sat in his throne, nails tapping against the arm of the chair. Beside him, the Mad Hatter sat on the ground, face in his hands. The Queen wondered what was wrong. The Hatter was usually so bubbly and _alive_ and to see him moping around was quite unsettling._

_(His nails went tappy-tap-tap against the throne.)_

"_What's wrong?" he asked the Hatter. His voice was a monotone, the worry he felt carefully concealed. _

_(Tappy-tap-tap.)_

_The Hatter didn't answer, lifting his head up to stare at the Queen. He shifted around uncomfortably, wishing his Duchess was here._

"_You like that throne, don't you?" the Hatter asked him, speaking as if very far away. "You sit in it all the time."_

_The Queen frowned, the action very familiar to him, although he didn't know why. "I'm waiting for the Duchess."_

_(Tap-tap.)_

_The Mad Hatter snorted. "That's another thing about you that baffles me. Why are you so obsessed with her?"_

"_Because," the Queen started to say hotly, but then cut himself off, because truthfully, he didn't quite know the answer to the Hatter's question. The Hatter gave a small, sad smile and proceeded to drop his head to his knees again._

_The door permitting entrance to the throne room flew open, and the Duchess herself came flying through. "Always!" she exclaimed. "Always you guys leave me out when we're having a meeting! I'm important too, you know!" She stopped in front of the Queen and kissed him quickly before wheeling around to face the Hatter. "Now- hey where's Itachi?" she asked suddenly. "Not back yet, huh?" she concluded._

_The Hatter didn't respond. _

_(Tappity-tappity.)_

"_You want to know what's wrong with me?" he said, more to himself than anybody else. "I'll tell you what's wrong." And he said_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Life _sucked_.

Honestly. Sakura had to conclude that, no matter what she did, life would always suck. Your boyfriend would always break up with you, mysterious men would always pull you to another world against your will, and people would always try to kill your friends so that they could take you to a castle and sacrifice you.

And there would always, always be those stupid words lying around to haunt you.

Sakura glared at the word 'FALL', sitting right in front of her. It was a deep shade of purple, weeds and grasses growing over it, and that same evil aura from before radiating off of it. It was so wrong, so horribly, horribly wrong that Sakura couldn't imagine why the Wonderlanders were okay with it, much less feel comfortable enough to _sit_ on it.

Itachi Uchiha sat on the word, his legs crossed, and a bemused expression on his face. "How did you find this place, Sakura?" he asked her.

Sakura was wary. She knew that this was an Explosive leader right in front of her, someone who could have valuable information about Sasuke and what the Explosives wanted with herself and her ex-boyfriend. She needed to be careful. There could be other Explosives hiding around, waiting to capture her. Her gun felt so heavy in her hands. "I didn't come here on purpose," she said.

Itachi smiled, and she action was rather pretty on him, Sakura noticed (_Shut up, whore side,_ she thought.) "Not on purpose?" he repeated. He rolled his eyes. "Only an Outlander could do that."

Sakura didn't really know what to make of that statement, so she chose to focus on something else.

Why wasn't he rhyming?

"So, Sakura," Itachi said, and when she looked up at him, there was no trace of a smile on his face. "Are you not going to try and kill me or interrogate me?"

"I do have some questions for you," Sakura said cautiously. "But I'd prefer to have them answered in a nonviolent way."

"Believe it or not, that's the way I prefer things, too," Itachi murmured. "I may be an embodiment of chaos, but I abhor bloodshed."

"There are ways to bring chaos to a society without killing anyone," Sakura said.

"I know," Itachi said, a glimmer of a smile passing over his face.

Suddenly, Sakura understood Itachi a little, realized that maybe they had some things in common. Maybe, he wasn't such a bad person after all. Maybe he was putting up a façade. She could ignore the word he was sitting on in favor of figuring out what was going on and truly understanding Itachi.

"This war wasn't my idea," Itachi said, almost conversationally. "But Ino _loves_ war so she insisting we make one. Admittedly, it is bringing much chaos to this land, but not exactly the way I want to."

Ino. The Duchess.

Another Explosive leader.

Sakura nodded and placed her gun back in her holster. Itachi's eyes followed her movements. "Are you not scared of me?" he asked, voice low.

"You're not going to hurt me," Sakura said confidently.

Itachi shrugged. "True. I just want to talk."

"Same here," Sakura said, glad this was going so well.

Itachi un-crossed his legs, tapping the word he was sitting on (_tappity-tappity-tap_). He looked at her intently. "Do you have any idea of what's going on with Sasuke at the Hearts castle?" he asked her.

Sakura thought she caught a glimmer of concern in his dark eyes when she exclaimed, "Of course I do! You and the other Explosives captured him and made the Duchess control him somehow so you can sacrifice him to some monster or something!"

Itachi was shaking his head even before she finished. "No, no," he said. "You've got it all wrong, Sakura. You know how the Hearts castle was sacked by Explosive forces?"

Sakura nodded, wondering where this was going.

"Sasuke _led_ that attack. He killed everyone."

It took a moment for that information to sink in, and then-

"_What?_"

"He's under the complete control of the Duchess," Itachi said, almost urgently. "He does whatever she wants him to. He thinks he _loves her_, Sakura.

"Sasuke is the ultimate killing machine, Sakura."

Suddenly, everything started to make sense.

"But- but," she started to say. "Do my friends know about this?" Weren't they at the attack at the castle?

Itachi nodded, his face a mask. "They didn't tell you because they didn't want to upset you," he said.

Sakura appreciated their concern, but really wished they had told her. "Why are you telling me all this" she asked Itachi.

He hesitated, and Sakura saw an emotion in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. "Because you have to know, Sakura," he said simply.

"Then answer my question," she said. "Why do you and Sasuke share a last name? And why do you two look so similar?"

Itachi closed his eyes and smiled slightly. When he opened them again he said, "Don't be so stupid, Sakura. What group of people would have the same last name and similar features?"

Sakura frowned and then the realization stick hit her again. "Wait," she gasped. "No- that's not possible- I saw your dead body at the funeral!"

A gunshot rang out.

Sakura screamed.

Itachi crumpled over, falling off the word. Sakura rushed over to him. "No, no!" she cried. "Itachi! Don't die!"

The black forest scene was quickly fading away into something brighter. Sakura knelt beside Itachi's body. "I'm really going to die this time; sorry," he rasped out, blood staining through his shirt.

"Itachi," Sakura said uselessly, and she knew that Itachi never wanted any of this to happen, that deep down he _was _a good person, forced into a pickle. That he had to make a choice and a choice he did make, and that Itachi _never wanted any of this_. So Sakura cried a little bit as she watched him die, and she was certain to cry more later, but right now Itachi was whispering something to her, and she bent down to here him better.

"_Save him- you have to save him!_"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

005:

((_save him- you have to save him!_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

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My resolve has just grown stronger.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_Itachi's _dead."

Ino's mouth was agape, as if she couldn't quite believe it, and the Outlander- Naruto had forgotten his name- seemed to have frozen, staring at Naruto with a mixture of shock and horror on his face.

Of course it was hard to believe. Itachi had been the Outlander's _brother_, someone he'd thought was dead but figured out wasn't. He had been overjoyed to see his brother again, and now, Itachi was dead again, and this time he was really gone from him.

Itachi was someone very special to Ino and Naruto. The three of them had been together for years, not just working together, but surviving together, living together. Itachi had abandoned his own family so that he could be with Naruto and Ino and help them with their takeover of Hearts country. Naruto, Itachi, and Ino were like knots all tied tightly together. Trying to pick them apart would just make the knots tighter, but if you cut one off, the whole thing would fall apart and be _ruined_. The fact that Itachi was dead meant that Naruto and Ino were out of a knot, out of a leader, out of a companion, out of a friend, out of a _brother_.

"_A scone stumbled into the scene and rushed back here,_" Naruto heard himself say dimly. He was very far off, off into another world, and didn't have any intention of coming back because then he would have to face the pain and reality of Itachi being . . . being gone. "_He had to leave his body with his killers._"

It was adding insult to a big, gaping wound. They couldn't even give Itachi a proper burial; they had to leave poor Itachi out in the woods with his murderers, who would probably see fit to leave Itachi's body where it was.

"_Who- who killed him?_" Ino's words were uttered out, uttered out with so much rage and misery that the Outlander flinched. When struck with something horrible like this, Naruto was apt to sulk in corners, whereas Ino got so angry that she wanted to destroy everybody who caused all this pain. In her mind, she would need to avenge Itachi, and she would need to track down and murder his murderers. Her brother's death could not go unpunished. She'd make someone _pay_.

Naruto hesitated before telling Ino who had taken down Itachi, because he'd rather liked Sakura in the short time they had spent together. But why would he show mercy to the person who slaughtered one of the most important people in Naruto's life? "_It was the other Outlander and her companions,_" he said.

Ino's Outlander looked a little confused; after all, he didn't have any clue who the other Outlander was. To him, it was just a title to the person who had murdered his brother, and his grief had to be so overwhelming for the moment he couldn't think about anything other than the thought that his brother was dead. But for Ino, now she had the faces and names of those she would kill for vengeance. "_I'm leaving to find them,_" she said shortly, turning to leave the throne room already.

"_Wait, Ino, don't!_"

Normally, this would be Itachi's job, reasoning with his hotheaded partners. But since Itachi would never fill that role again, Naruto had to be the voice of reason, had to get people to see sense. It was a sad state of affairs when he needed to be the reasonable one, but someone had to.

"_Why should I wait?_" Ino snapped at him, her tone and expression making it clear she thought Naruto was crazy.

(Which he was, but, well . . .)

"_The Outlander and the Rabbit and all their friends are coming here to get_ him _back, remember?_" Naruto jerked a thumb over at the Outlander, whose confused expression deepened. "_Just wait here. We can ambush them and pick them off when they arrive._"

Ino listened to him, his words started to make sense to her. "_So are you saying to let them come to the castle?_" she whispered.

Naruto nodded. "_Don't send any more Explosive militia after them. They keep dying anyways. We'll let them right into the castle, where we'll kill them._"

A small smile stole across Ino's face. "_We _will _kill them,_" she promised.

Naruto gave her a small smile of his own before he mind was struck again with the thought '_Itachi's gone_'. He swallowed back bile.

It was similar to the way that Hinata was gone from him.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Fugaku Uchiha liked to think nothing could really shake him. He was a police officer, after all, and had been exposed to a lot of nasty things. However, he was beginning to feel quite shaken with the disappearance of his second son. He could feel the nightmare of a few years back happening all over again, except for this time, there wasn't another son the parents could cling to. Mikoto was beside herself with grief, sobbing in the bedroom for hours on end and refusing to go to work. After all, it had been three days, and that had been how long Itachi was missing before he turned up dead.

Since Fugaku was a police officer, he was able to follow very closely the investigation of Sasuke's disappearance. The police were absolutely baffled by the case. A team had gone over to the Haruno's house, where Sasuke was seen last. The Harunos revealed that their daughter and also Sasuke's girlfriend, Sakura, was missing too. The couple said that Sakura and Sasuke just broke up with each before Sasuke sped off in his car and Sakura retreated to her room. Mrs. Haruno checked on Sakura a couple hours later and found that she was not in her room. The window was open and Sakura's cell phone was on the ground. Sakura's parents took the liberty of going through her cell phone and found that Sakura called Sasuke and received a message from him within the span of ten minutes. They had thought that maybe Sakura snuck out to see Sasuke or something, but that didn't make much sense. They had just broken up, and why would Sakura think she had to sneak out the window? Furthermore, Sasuke never even arrived home. Had the two met up somewhere?

The whole thing didn't make any sense.

With no clues or leads anywhere, the police were beginning to give up on the case, even if had only been three days. Fugaku sighed in his car as he waited at a red light, wanting to get home. He hated leaving Mikoto along when she was acting like she was.

The red light turned to green and Fugaku sped forward, traveling along for a few more minutes before parking his car in the driveway of his house. The Uchiha house was a rather large one, since Fugaku and Mikoto made a lot at their jobs. They could afford a mansion and even servants if they wanted to, but Mikoto didn't. She preferred a smaller space, where she could watch over her boys easier, she said.

Sasuke liked their house as it was, too.

Fugaku turned off his car before getting out, his police officer uniform feeling heavy on his skin. He couldn't see any lights on in the house, but Mikoto's car was still in the driveway. He hoped that meant she was sleeping. Mikoto hadn't been sleeping much lately.

He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, careful to be quiet in case Mikoto really was sleeping. Fugaku made for the stairs after removing his gun and whatnot, but heard some noises coming from the living room. Turning around, he went into the living room to find Mikoto curled up on the couch with a blanket around her, staring out at a soap opera playing on the TV. He didn't say anything, just sat down beside her, brushing her hair back. Fugaku was awkward in the way of affection, and times like these didn't really help that awkwardness. Mikoto crawled over to him, not saying a word, and curled up on top of him. He held her with that same awkwardness, wondering if this nightmare would ever end.

They watched the soap opera for a while, neither of them talking or really watching it. When the first commercial blinked on, Mikoto said in a ragged voice, "_How was work, honey?_"

"_It was fine._" Truthfully, Fugaku didn't really remember what had happened in work today. He thought he had sat in his office all day, staring at the wall.

"_Any leads on- on-_"

Fugaku wished Mikoto hadn't asked. If there had been any leads, he would have told her right away, to at least somewhat lessen the misery on her mind. "_No. I'm sorry,_" he said, voice barely audible above the commercials.

Mikoto sighed and didn't say anything.

They sat in silence for the remainder of the episode, and Fugaku decided they should talk about _something_ (strange coming from him, since he wasn't much of a talker to begin with), at least to take their mind off their son . . .

"_What do you want for dinner, Mikoto?_" Fugaku asked his wife, purposely keeping his voice pitched low so as not to startle her.

"_Oh, I don't know . ._ _._" Mikoto didn't seem to care if she ate or not. "_Whatever's easy to make._"

"_How about we order sushi from that place that just opened up?_"

"_Sure . . ._"

Fugaku hated this. He hated how his wife was a shell of her normally, happy, bubbly self. He wished he could do something to make her happy again, but the only thing that could achieve that would be her youngest son coming home.

The doorbell rang.

For an instant, Fugaku thought it was Sasuke. He mentally berated himself for thinking that; it probably wasn't Sasuke; don't get your hopes up, fool. Mikoto looked at him, clearly asking him to answer the door, and he muttered, "_I'll get it._" He got up and went to the front door, and couldn't squash the hope that it would be his son on the other side . . .

When Fugaku opened the door, it was not Sasuke on the other side.

Instead, it was a man Fugaku didn't recognize, who looked to be about Sasuke's age. This man had the strangest, most fiery red hair Fugaku had ever since in his life, and was looking out at him blankly with sea green eyes. The strangest part? He had a Japanese letter tattooed on his face. Now, who did something like that? From his experience in the police force, Fugaku instantly thought of a delinquent when he looked at this guy.

He was also instantly wary.

"_What do you want?_" he growled, putting his excellent conversation skills to use.

"_You are Fugaku Uchiha, yes?_" the man asked. Fugaku was surprised that he knew his name, but he had made the paper a few times talking about cases that the newspaper was following. "_Yes,_" he said cautiously.

The man nodded. "_I am Gaara Sabaku. Is it alright if I enter?_"

No, Fugaku did not think it was alright, and Gaara could probably tell that very clearly by his body language. But when Gaara said, "_I know your son, Sasuke._", Fugaku decided that it was best that he invited Gaara inside.

He sat Gaara down at the dining room, making it obvious to Mikoto that someone was inside the house, but didn't allow Gaara to see her. Mikoto didn't emerge from the living room, so Fugaku assumed he would have to deal with this strange person himself.

They were sitting at the table a bit awkwardly when Gaara said in an encouraging sort of tone, "_Have some wine._"

"_I didn't bring out any wine,_" Fugaku said flatly.

"_I thought it would help calm your nerves._"

"_It isn't very civil of you to offer nonexistent wine in_ my _house,_" Fugaku retorted.

"_Well, it isn't very civil of you to make rude remarks to a guest._"

Fugaku could've said something about civility in randomly showing up at strangers' houses, or he could've punched Gaara's lights out, but he decided to stay in his chair for now. "_What do you want?_" he said instead, preferring to get straight to the point.

Gaara let out a teeny sigh, leaning back in his chair. "_You seemed worried, so I thought I'd reassure you that your son is doing perfectly fine. He's mildly content where he is right now, and things go according to plan on at least one team's side, Sasuke should be back home by the end of the week._"

Fugaku stared at Gaara, wondering what types of drugs he was on. "_Where's Sasuke?_" he forced himself to say.

Gaara gave another little sigh. "_I'm afraid I can't exactly say that. Don't want innocents to get involved, of course._" There seemed to be a bit of mockery and sarcasm in Gaara's tone that Fugaku did not like at all. "_You wouldn't be able to find him even if you tried, anyways._"

Fugaku stood abruptly, knocking back his chair. "_Get out of my house,_" he growled at Gaara, barely controlling his anger.

Fugaku might not be affectionate, and have problems talking to people, but he was damn good at being angry.

Gaara stood calmly and walked out of the dining room, not saying a word to Fugaku. He opened up the front door and stepped outside, turning around to say something to Fugaku.

"_It was the _best_ butter, you know_," he said.

Fugaku slammed the front door closed and locked it.

He stomped back over to his wife, who barely looked up as he sat back down beside her. "_Who was that, honey?_" Mikoto asked of her husband.

"_Just some delinquent,_" Fugaku said.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"That was a good shot, Neji."

Sakura was back in a regular clearing, with no darkness and no words, only Itachi's dead body. She stared into his face, barely hearing the voices of her friends.

"Thank you."

"Who taught you?"

"Do you remember Kakashi, the Knave?"

"Oh yeah! I'd nearly forgotten about him. I wonder where he went after the attack on Hearts . . ."

Their words floated over her, not reaching her mind. She could only stare and stare at the corpse in front of her.

_No._

_Why, why, why?_

"Sakura, are you alright?"

It was Hinata, her voice gentle, bending down beside Sakura. "C'mon," Hinata said softly. "Let's get away from here, Sakura."

Sakura didn't comply. Hinata tried to pull her up, but Sakura would not move. "Sakura," Hinata said, a bit of impatience creeping into her tone. "We need to move. There are probably more Explosives nearby."

Sakura was up in a flash, but her eyes were wild. "Why?" she yelled. "Why did you kill him?"

She cast a wild, accusatory glance at the Caterpillar, the Dormouse, and the White Rabbit. Each of them looked shocked that she was asking them that. "What do you mean, Sakura?" Shikamaru said carefully. "Itachi was an Explosive leader. Taking him out is a major blow to them, and we can get to Sasuke easier."

"Itachi wouldn't have hurt us!" she burst out. "Itachi's a good person. I know that! Hell, I spent time with him back in my world; he just made me forget about it somehow! Itachi and I talked to each other and he was trying to _help_ me! He wanted to help me! He was on my side!"

"Sakura . . ." She could tell none of them believed her. Why should they? They believed that Itachi slaughtered their friends and family, ruined their homes. "You want proof?" she growled at them. "Itachi told me that _Sasuke_ attacked the Hearts castle by the Duchess's orders and killed everyone! Everyone! _My _Sasuke!"

She broke into hysterical sobs.

The three of them stared out at her. They were shocked, unable to move. "What else are you guys not telling me?" she sobbed.

"Sakura-" Neji started to say, but she cut him off. "No! Don't tell me that he was lying! Don't tell me not to believe him! Itachi wouldn't lie to me!"

_You see, once upon a time we were . . . ._

"Sakura," Neji said calmly. "We were going to tell you. We just didn't know when to. We didn't want to hurt you, Sakura."

"We didn't want you to find out this way," Shikamaru piped up.

_FRIENDS._

Sakura wiped off her tears. "Seriously, guys. I need to know exactly what is going on. And," She gestured at the fallen Itachi. "We need to bury him."

Shikamaru looked pained. "Then I'll do it by myself," Sakura said.

"No," he said quickly. "We'll bury him. We need to do it fast, though. Chances are Itachi had others with him, ones who will want to kill us to avenge him. And we have to start worry about the other Explosive leaders, too. They're close to the Cheshire Cat."

Everyone nodded, and set to work and creating the best grave they possibly could with limited supplies. They didn't have any shovels, but for some reason Hinata carried around spades ("Extra weapon," she explained. "No one expects you to use a spade as a weapon."). They moved Itachi to a different location and dug for him a shallow grave while Neji stood watch. It took up a good portion of their day and Shikamaru wanted to leave a few times to avoid confrontation with angry Explosives, but they finished the grave and marked it a rock, using a knife of Neji's to write 'Itachi' in big letters.

Then Sakura cried again.

Then they were off, traveling through the forest again.

Then, the forest started to thin out, along with the dying light. "Where are we?" Sakura asked quietly.

"We're entering onto the grasslands now," Shikamaru told her. "There's a small town just up ahead with an inn we can stay in for the night. The town's pretty well protected, so I think we'll be able to sleep the whole night."

"Why do you say 'we'll' like you mean just me and you?" Sakura asked him, lifting an eyebrow.

"Well, I fall asleep very easily," Shikamaru said. "And you sleep pretty soundly, too. These two don't. "He jerked a thumb at Neji and Hinata behind them.

"We're just more aware of any threats." Hinata said.

"Okay, Hinata. You just can't sleep in any bed but your nice king-sized bed back home." Shikamaru said teasingly.

"Well, it's not like that bed really exists any more," Hinata said shortly, effectively ending all conversation.

It was somewhere around eight in the evening when the forest officially ended, opening out onto a wide plain with grasses as tall as Sakura's waist. Off into the distance she could see little twinkling lights that Shikamaru informed her belonged to the town they would stay at. The Rescue Sasuke Brigade headed for it, pushing aside the grasses and whacking each other unintentionally with them.

As they entered the town, Sakura was vividly reminded of a Western town found in cowboy movies. "Welcome to Old Tortellini Ville," a man, who was apparently on watch, greeted them.

_Old Tortellini Ville . . . ?_

The grasses had been chopped down, leaving dirt hardened by centuries of people walking over it as the basis for the town. Most of the houses seemed to be wood buildings almost in shambles. The people walking about (only a few, since it was nighttime) looked at Sakura and her friends with wary curiosity.

Sakura looked at them with the same curiosity. They were, after all, wearing stereotypical cowboy hats, boots, and pistols in a holster.

They stopped in front of a building that was larger and slightly nicer than the rest of the buildings of Old Tortellini Ville. "This is the inn we'll stay at," Shikamaru announced.

Sakura could hear the clamor of patrons inside the inn before they entered. When they did, Sakura was greeted with a typical Western bar scene. Everybody was drunk and yelling, and a fight even broke out. A tall, burly man stood up and calmly shot another man in the head. Everybody quieted for a moment, then shrugged and continued on with their business. Sakura was appalled.

Shikamaru led them over to an overweight man standing behind a counter where drinks were passed out. He looked like he hadn't ever showered in his lifetime. "Hey, Chouza," Shikamaru greeted him.

"Dormouse!" the man exclaimed. "What are you doing all the out way here? And you've brought friends!" The man peered out at the Hyuga cousins and Sakura.

Shikamaru allowed a small smile. "We're just traveling around, trying to find a nice place to stay." he said.

"You could stay with me," Chouza said. "I've been lonely ever since my boy Choji left me to go join the army." Chouza shook his head, evidently deeply unsatisfied with his son's decision. "Useless endeavor, if you ask me."

Sakura was guessing Chouza had no idea that Shikamaru, Neji, and Hinata were all in the army. Hinata stiffened, but Neji murmured something to her and she didn't say anything to the burly innkeeper.

"But enough of my rambling!" Chouza said brightly. "Do you need a room, Shikamaru?"

"If you have two with two beds in them, that would be great," Shikamaru replied.

"I think I do," Chouza boomed, although his voice sounded normal among the noises of the bar. "Come upstairs."

The four of them followed Chouza upstairs, who showed them two rooms side by side that fulfilled Shikamaru's requirements. Shikamaru thanked him and paid him, and then Chouza said goodnight and headed back downstairs to the noisy bar room.

"How are we supposed to get any sleep?" Sakura grumbled. She could still hear what was going on downstairs.

Shikamaru shrugged. "You'll just get tired and eventually fall asleep."

Sakura accepted that.

Shikamaru and Neji took one room while Sakura and Hinata took the other. The room was about half the size of Sakura's bedroom back home, and was cramped with an extra bad squeezed into it, but Sakura didn't particularly care at the moment. She flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes as Hinata rummaged around in her pack and prepared to go to bad also.

"Hey . . ."

Sakura opened her eyes blearily to the sound of Hinata's voice. "Yeah?" she croaked.

"You're not mad at us, are you?" Hinata asked softly. Sakura didn't have any idea about what she was talking about, until- boom- she remembered and it all came crashing down on her again.

Sakura closed her eyes, feeling her stress and misery acutely. "No, I'm not mad," she sighed. "It wouldn't do to be mad at the people I'm traveling with."

Hinata gave a slight smile that Sakura missed, with her eyes closed. Suddenly, she let a little "Oh!" of surprise, and Sakura opened her eyes again to give Hinata an inquisitive expression.

Hinata smiled sheepishly and held up her bunny ears headband. "I was wondering where this thing had gotten to," she explained.

"Weren't you wearing it today?" Sakura asked, distinctively remembering seeing Hinata wear it.

Hinata frowned. "Was I? Either way, I refuse to wear it anymore. Shikamaru doesn't wear his, so why should I have to?"

Sakura giggled at Hinata's childish reasoning. They were cut off as knock came on the door. Hinata went to open it, revealing the Dormouse and the Caterpillar. "Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear," Hinata told them.

_Isn't that a saying in_ my_ world? _Sakura thought.

Shikamaru grinned. "Can't stop thinking about me, can you Hinata?" Then his expression sobered up, and he and Neji walked into the room, sitting down on Hinata's bed while she sat down on Sakura's. "I was thinking, we have some stuff we need to talk about . . ."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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_It's bursting at the seams_

_Seeing with my own eyes I can realize_

_That I wish it was all a dream_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Afternotes1: I'm starting a job that requires me to work from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm on week days, which seriously cuts up all my writing time. I'm still going to try and write every day, but if the chapters start coming out slowly, that's why.**

**Why do I have to work? Why can't money grow on trees?**

**Afternotes2: If you're confused with what's going on the story right now, don't worry; everything will be explained next chapter (mostly everything, at least).**

**And: NOOO! ITAAAACHIII!**


	6. 006: Proof

**explosive**

**Author's note1: So, our heroes find some trouble. Oh well. This story would be boring if everything went according to plan, right?**

**If you care: We've passed the one hundred page mark already. Can you believe it?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Smoking is a nasty habit.

There are many problems that go along with smoking; bad breath, cancer, even death. And the terrible, awful addiction that accumulates to the point where you _need _to smoke, you _need _to have a cigarette.

That is why he doesn't smoke.

The smoke from the cigarette belonging to the man next to him wafted over to him and drifted up his nostrils, making his eyes water and the urge to sneeze come up. He absolutely _abhorred _smoking, and especially the smell that came with it. The man's smoke so near him made him think that he would develop lung cancer or something equally horrifying. He really wished the man would go away and stop spreading around the poisonous fumes that resulted from his disgusting habit. Then he decided that he himself would make the man stop smoking.

It was a lawless town he was in, after all. Even when a man got shot down in the local inn no one cared except the man's mother. So, adjusting the hat on his head, he calmly lifted up his pistol and shot the man in the face.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura had been tired, but when Shikamaru and Neji poked their heads through her door, she had instantly grown more alert. Her three companions, despite the late hour, looked like they were finally ready to talk to her and dispel all of the confusion she was carrying.

She and Hinata sat on one bed while Neji and Shikamaru sat opposite them on the other bed. "What do you think we need to talk about, Shikamaru?" Sakura asked of the Dormouse, hugging her pillow to her chest.

"Well, everything, I guess," he responded. "I know you're confused, Sakura, about a lot of stuff so I thought I'd just start from the beginning and explain up to the present."

"Okay," Sakura murmured.

Shikamaru leaned against the wall and sighed a little. "You two tell me if I miss anything or get something wrong," he said to Neji and Hinata, who nodded. "And, Sakura, don't be afraid to ask any questions you might have."

She nodded also.

"So," Shikamaru said, beginning his long and winded tail.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_Sparks fly._

_Sparks fly, as in the castle is on fire. There is screaming everywhere and running people everywhere, but the loyal and brave card soldiers say, "Don't worry! We'll take care of this threat!"_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"The first attack on Hearts castle by the Explosives was ten years ago," Shikamaru said. "It was led by Ino and Naruto's parents, because those two were too young to participate in the battle at the time.

"Anyways, we managed to defeat the Explosives and they disappeared for the next few years. We thought they'd disappeared for good, but then they started attacking the outskirts of Hearts country, little towns that they could loot and slaughter." Shikamaru sighed. "So we mustered up our army and set out to get rid of the Explosives again.

"Hinata, Neji, and I were in the army at that point, and we all were placed in the same combat unit, and we became pretty close. So that's how we met," Shikamaru said.

"How old are you three?" Sakura interrupted.

"Shikamaru and I are twenty five and Neji is twenty seven," Hinata said.

Sakura nodded and Shikamaru continued on, "For a long time, nobody seemed to be winning the war, but then all of the current Explosive leaders were assassinated by our special forces and we thought we'd won. Unfortunately, three new people took over their positions and proved to be excellent leaders." Shikamaru shook his head.

"Initially, we thought it was just Ino, the Duchess, leading the whole thing. We still thought Naruto was on our side at that point and Itachi wasn't in the picture yet. He must not have known at that point that he was an Explosive, but I'm pretty sure he was already friends with Ino and Naruto." Shikamaru cut himself off to gaze inquisitively at Sakura. "Do you remember seeing either of them with Itachi in your world?" he asked her.

She thought about it for a bit, and then shook her head no.

Shikamaru shrugged, and then continued on. "So, Itachi came into the picture as the Cheshire Cat a few years ago-"

"Wait, wait," Sakura interrupted. "I thought Itachi was from my world? How could he have a role, then?"

"No one really knows where Itachi was born," Neji said in his emotionless voice. "We just assume that he is the real Cheshire Cat."

"Oh . . ." That was certainly something to puzzle over. How could Itachi have been born in Wonderland?

"Anyways, when Itachi entered the war he earned the reputation of someone you just don't want to be around if you were his enemy. He didn't stay at the base like Ino did but actually went around fighting battles. Plus," Shikamaru said, making it clear that his next statement was important. "He went into other worlds and brought a few people from there into Wonderland."

"Why would he do that?" Sakura frowned, remembering that it was Itachi who had pulled her into Wonderland.

"Outlanders are very impressionable," Hinata said. "They'll do anything you tell them to, because most can hardly believe what's happening to them. The Duchess also has some weird sort of power where she can control them and make them do stuff they normally wouldn't do."

"Like kill people?" Sakura said quietly. "Is that why they pulled me into this world?" she asked louder. "To make me work for them? What about that whole 'summon the ultimate chaos' thing?"

"I'm getting to that, Sakura," Shikamaru said. "Just hold on.

"Outlanders, when they are being controlled by the Duchess, will do exactly what you want them to, down to the letter. So, if you say 'kill people', the Outlander will go out and kill people and they won't die or get hurt because you didn't order them to. Outlanders are excellent warriors, Sakura. Itachi and Ino were using them to try and take us down."

It was awful, for sure.

"When we figured out what was going on, we set out to close all the connections from Wonderland to other worlds. Except, we missed one."

"The one to Earth," Sakura said.

Shikamaru nodded. "The one to Earth." he repeated. "We'd managed to take down all of the Outlanders they were using when they weren't on the battlefield, so we thought we were good, but or course we weren't. Itachi discovered that the entrance to Earth was still open and went through and nabbed his brother and his brother's girlfriend."

"Why?" Sakura burst out. "Why would Itachi bring his own brother into this mess?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Maybe he missed him," he suggested. "Whatever his motives were, he did it, and used Sasuke as a super soldier to sack Hearts castle about three days ago." Neji closed his eyes. "We were driven out of our home and forced to set up camp somewhere else while the Explosives claimed Hearts castle as their new base. Then we found out that there was _another_ Outlander, you, running around, completely confused in Wonderland. Furthermore, a rumor was leaked that the Explosives were planning on using the two Outlanders to resurrect a demon that would annihilate us and bring the ultimate chaos."

"Do you think it's true?" Sakura asked, eyes wide.

"Remember when the Explosive who attacked us said he needed you to be in the army?" Shikamaru asked her. She nodded. "Well, I was thinking that the Explosives spread around that rumor about the demon in an effort to confuse us, and that they really just wanted to use you as a soldier."

Sakura admitted that she was relieved that the Explosives weren't trying to kill her, but she vowed to herself not to get captured by them.

"So, what else is there?" Sakura asked.

"We're at the present now," Shikamaru said. "We're going to bring you to Hearts castle so you can get Sasuke out of there and go home. Hopefully we'll take down a few more Explosives while we're in there."

Sakura winced a little bit, but said, "You've said before that I needed to be with Sasuke to get home. Why is that, and do you know how it works?"

"None of us knows how it works because we've never seen it done before and it's not written down," Shikamaru said. "The Rules only state 'No Outlander shall leave without another Outlander.'."

"And . . ." Sakura took a deep breath. "What about Itachi?"

Shikamaru was cautious. "What about Itachi?"

"Did you guys really have no clue that he was trying to help me?" Sakura asked.

All three of her companions shared a look. "Sakura," Shikamaru said gently. "While Itachi didn't lie to you, I don't think he was trying to help you. He was probably trying to confuse you and make you doubt us."

"No, that's not-" Sakura cut herself off and sighed. "Whatever. Let's just not talk about that, okay?"

Shikamaru nodded readily, and Hinata and Neji seemed relieved.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Neji asked her.

Sakura considered his question for a bit. She did feel less confused now and her head was starting to hurt from an 'I've stayed up too late headache', so she shook her head no. She couldn't think of anymore questions to ask, anyways. "I'm good for now," she said.

Everyone smiled a little bit at each other, glad that the conversation was finally out of the way. "Let's just try to get to sleep, then," Shikamaru said.

Hinata snorted. "You go ahead and sleep, Dormouse. I'll stay ready for any threat."

"Chamomile helps with insomnia, you know."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura woke up the next morning to light streaming through the window. This was stranger than it sounded, because she usually got up at a time when hardly any light penetrated the earth. She sat up and stretched in her bed, yawning as she did so. She glanced over to her left and saw that Hinata was gone, bed neatly made, but that her pack and such were still in the room.

Sakura climbed out of bed and threw open the window, revealing a town already bustling as sunlight poured down on Old Tortellini Ville. It occurred to Sakura suddenly why it was so light out. It was late morning.

She had slept in.

Instantly, she was wary. It wasn't like Shikamaru, Hinata, or Neji to allow her to sleep in, especially this late. Had something happened to them?

She strapped on the holster that held her gun and crept out into the hallway. The door to the room Shikamaru and Neji were staying in was closed, and when she tried the handle, it was locked. Frowning, Sakura traveled downstairs, where she could hear the murmurs of more sober guests than last night getting a late breakfast.

Thankfully, she found her three friends sitting around a table with one extra chair. "Hey," she greeted, relieved, sliding into the empty chair. "You're up," Shikamaru said. "Would you like something to eat?"

"That be great," she replied, and Shikamaru called over a girl to get Sakura something to eat.

"Why did you guys let me sleep in so late?" she asked a steaming bowl of something that looked like pink oatmeal was placed in front of her. She thanked the girl and waited for the three of them to respond.

Neji looked mildly perplexed. "We'll be arriving at Hearts castle in a few hours," he said. "We figured you should be well rested."

Sakura nearly choked on her oatmeal. "What?" she spluttered out.

"Didn't we tell you?" he asked her.

"Um, _no_."

"Sorry," Shikamaru said quickly. "I thought we did. Anyways, there's only a few more hours left in our trip, so here's the 'battle plan', I guess you could call it-"

Something sounding distinctively like a gunshot filled the air.

Oh. It _was_ a gunshot.

Thinking _what now_, Sakura wheeled around to see one man sitting at the bar calmly putting his pistol back in his holster as the man next to him bled his life away, sprawled grotesquely over the bar counter. The man- the living one- had to be the oddest person she had ever seen. He was wearing a black mask that covered everything up to his nose, with an eye patch in the shape of a heart covering his left eye. On top of his head sat a cowboy hat, silver strands of hair peeking out from under it. He even wore the weird pants with the tassels down the sides.

Her companions around her seemed frozen by the scene in front of them, as if almost unable to comprehend what their eyes were taking in. Sakura wondered why. Why the masked man had shot the other man, when he apparently hadn't done anything?

"Hey!" A tall, thicker man stood up, his face in a scowl. "Why'd you shoot my nephew?"

The masked man regarded him for a moment coolly before replying with, "He was annoying me."

Everybody in the inn held their breath, thinking that the masked man was really going to get it now.

"Do you have something to prove, sir?" the thicker man snarled out. "Everyone already knows you're the best shooter in this damned country."

Sakura thought she saw Shikamaru stiffen.

"No, I don't have anything to prove," the masked man responded. "The smoke from his cigarette was getting into my eyes and stinging them."

"Eyes?" the man roared. "You only have eye, freak!" With that, he pulled out his own pistol and made to shoot at the masked man.

In a flash, Neji was up, firing off his submachine gun into the other man's chest. He fell heavily to the ground. Several guys, who were apparently the second dead man's companions, yelled and pulled out their own guns, aiming at Neji and the masked man. Suddenly, Shikamaru and Hinata had their guns out too and shot into the crowd of Neji's angry adversaries.

The masked man, the very essence of calm, shot down several people of the angry mob, never moving from his seat.

Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, and the masked man took down every single one of those guys, leaving them in a bloody heap on the floor. Sakura stared, open mouthed.

"You've gotten yourself into quite of a mess, haven't you, Kakashi?" Neji said calmly, addressing the masked man when the shooting was all done.

"I might have been able to avoid it if you hadn't jumped in, Neji," Kakashi responded, his lone eye training in on Sakura and her companions. "If only your passion didn't rule you."

Hinata snorted.

"What are you three doing all the way out here, and with an Outlander besides?" Kakashi inquired lazily, leaning back on the counter.

"We're going to Hearts castle," Shikamaru answered honestly, glancing briefly at the management of the inn, who were removing the dead bodies with practiced ease.

Kakashi lifted his only visible eyebrow. "Why there? You haven't turned over to the Explosives, have you?"

"No!" said all three of them. "We're trying to get her other friend back," Shikamaru explained.

"Good luck," Kakashi said, tone making it clear he thought they were crazy.

"What have you been doing, Kakashi?" Hinata asked, flipping her long hair over her shoulder.

"Oh, you know, what I usually do after my home is destroyed," Kakashi said. "Search for a new one."

Shikamaru frowned. "You can't have given up on us."

"Of course I haven't," Kakashi said dismissively. "I'm still the Hearts army's number one fan. I just don't plan on seeing Hearts castle any time soon."

Shikamaru looked deeply perturbed by Kakashi's answer. _Isn't he the Knave of Hearts?_ Sakura wondered.

She never had time to voice her thoughts however, because almost as soon as she made them several men in police uniforms burst through the inn door. "You five!" one growled at them. "Don't move or I'll put a fucking bullet through you!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Omg.

The world is spinning so fast nowadays and the only way he can keep up with it is to sit in a corner and bawl his eyes out until they drip like blood onto the ruined marble floor. His castle in is ruins, his people hate him and his crown sits upon his greasy hair like shit sits on you when a bird lets one fly.

Omg.

But he doesn't talk like that; he will never talk like that, so there is only one way to describe him now:

Fucked.

There is something seriously wrong with Sasuke Uchiha.

He doesn't know what. At times he can hardly remember his own name. Since the world is spinning so fast everything is a blur; he sees the distorted faces of the pretty girl with blonde hair, the man with the deep blue eyes and the hat. He used to see the man who looked just like him but he doesn't anymore and he is fading fast from his mind, so fast that he can hardly remember why that man was important to him. He can see his throne clearly, his tall imposing throne, mocking him, daring him to come and sit in it and let everyone witness how much of a train wreck he has become. And he can see the people who beg him to do this, to give them that, but he doesn't want to ((_MY CHILDREN ARE DYING WHY CAN'T YOU HELP US_)) so he orders their execution, their beheading, and he watches them die and he _laughs_.

Omg.

He will never be the same.

Omg.

Omg.

Omg.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_So help me, God. I'm spinning, whirling, faster and faster, trying to keep up with the world around me but it goes so quick and I can't keep up so tell me now what I should do because I don't think I can take it anymore._

((_. . . let me take you to another world . . ._))

((_oh, well, it's not the nicest place to be . . ._))

((_it may be called wonderland . . ._))

((BUT I DARESAY THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WONDROUS ABOUT IT))

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

006:

((_do you have something to prove?_))

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

Some days I just want to cry.

.

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura didn't think she could take it anymore. All of this complete and utter _idiocy_.

She had been handcuffed along with Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, and the Knave, and dragged over to the local jail, which looked exactly like something out of a cowboy movie. They even had a sheriff keeping watch over them, a sheriff with a white cowboy hat and all.

There were two cells, intended for holding prisoners until a horse and buggy (yes, a _horse and buggy_) came along to cart them off to a larger jail within the city of Hearts. But since the city of Hearts was virtually inaccessible because it surrounded the Explosive held castle of Hearts, the five of them were informed that they would serve time on the silver mines nearby.

Oh, joy.

Sakura was furious as she paced in the jail she was sharing with Kakashi. She didn't have time for this. This was absolutely _ridiculous_. She couldn't waste her life away at a freaking mine while Sasuke was held captive by the Explosives. She was on a _mission_, one that could quite possibly liberate the country of Hearts.

If only the damn policemen _knew _that.

Hell, she didn't even shoot anybody. Why was she in jail?

The sheriff stood in front of their jail cells; close but far away enough so that one of them couldn't grab him through the bars and punch his face in (like Sakura wanted to). "You five are the scum of the earth, I hope you know that," he said contemptuously. _We do now, buddy,_ Sakura thought sardonically. "You all deserve the hardships coming your way," he continued as Sakura glared at him, wishing that looks really could kill.

They couldn't sit here and listen to this self-important man drone on an on about how scummy they were. Of course they were scummy. They'd been sleeping on the ground for the past three nights or so, dammit.

But how could they possibly get out?

The sheriff was just telling them how much he detested cold blooded killers like them when somebody big and burly burst through the door. It was Chouza. "Sheriff, you can't execute them!" he exclaimed, face red.

"Why shouldn't I?" the sheriff asked Chouza, evidently affronted.

Chouza stared at him for a bit, mouth slightly agape. "Well, uh . . ." All five of the people he was trying to rescue looked at him beseechingly.

The sheriff seemed to think Chouza's answer was unsatisfactory, so he said roughly, "Get out of here and go back to your inn, Chouza."

The look on Chouza's face revealed that he was going through a war in his head. He looked towards the prisoners, shrugged, and then pulled out his own gun, shooting the sheriff in the head before the other man had time to react.

Sakura winced as bits of brain splattered onto the floor. Why was everything so violence oriented in Wonderland?

Even so, she breathed out a thank you as Chouza snagged the sheriff's keys and unlocked the cells. He nodded. Kakashi walked out and inspected the man lying on the floor as if he thought that he was pretending to be dead. "We should get out of here," he said casually. "People probably heard the gunshot."

Sure enough, Sakura could hear panicked yelling outside the jail. Moving quickly, she grabbed her confiscated handgun as her friends and Kakashi did the same. "My stuff's still at your inn," Sakura told Chouza. "Do you think I could risk getting it?"

Chouza shook his head. "It's too dangerous for you five to stay in Old Tortellini Ville any longer. You need to get out of here as soon as possible. I'll grab your pack and meet you outside the west gate."

"Okay," Shikamaru said, adjusting his pack on his shoulder.

"My stuff's still in the inn, too," Hinata said.

"I'll get that, too; don't worry," Chouza said.

"So what's our game plan?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru contemplated that for a moment before saying, "We'll sneak out the back entrance and head for the west gate. Once we get our stuff from Chouza we'll hightail it out of here and head for Hearts castle."

"I'm coming with you," Kakashi said. "At least until we're out of this town." He bent down and grabbed the sheriff's gun, a nice looking golden colored pistol.

"Do you need anything, Kakashi?" Chouza asked.

Kakashi shook his head.

"Then let's go."

They departed through the back door, entering out into the backside of several houses. Chouza bid them good luck before he went back to his inn. Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata, and Kakashi snuck around Old Tortellini Ville, careful to remain in the shadows and out of sight. Most people seemed to be going about their daily business, but nobody wanted to take any chances. Sakura refused to work at a silver mine.

Shikamaru told her in a whisper that they were almost to the west gate, when very suddenly, someone wrapped their arms around her waist. Sakura couldn't help herself; she shrieked and twisted around to face a man twice the size of Kakashi, who gazed back at her unflinchingly and without emotion. The other four wheeled around, eyes wide, as Sakura struggled with the man. "Sakura!" Hinata whisper-shouted and pulled out her gun, but couldn't get a clear shot on Sakura's attacker without hitting her, too.

The man abruptly turned around and ran back the way he came, still holding onto Sakura. He lifted her onto her shoulder and Sakura was vividly reminded of the way Itachi had carried her into Wonderland, and just like Itachi this man would not let go, no matter how hard she banged on his back. If only she could reach her gun, but it had fallen out of its holster and lay on the ground far, far away from her . . .

Hinata started sprinting after her, with Neji and Shikamaru following closely behind. Kakashi, after stopping a moment to pick up Sakura's gun, chased after them.

"Sakura!" they yelled, but nobody was gaining on the man, despite his size.

The ground her suddenly blew up and Sakura became aware that Kakashi had stopped to try and shoot the man in the legs but had missed. She dearly wished he hadn't. The man made a turn and ran out into the center of town, where a horse with a cell attached to it and three other men waited. "Go!" the one carrying Sakura yelled. "There are three behind me!"

Sakura did not like where this was going. At all.

She was thrown into the cell unceremoniously just as her friends plus Kakashi came whipping into the square. "Hey!" she yelled at them, as a man swung the doors shut. She heard a distinctive bang and a body falling to the ground and hoped to God that it was one of her kidnappers. Someone shouted "Giddy up!" and the horse started running, carrying her far away from her friends. She screamed out uselessly, eyes wide, hardly believing what was happening. No. _No_. And she had been _this close_ to getting Sasuke back.

The doors to her cell swung open and she stared as a man clung to the outside of the cell, grinning savagely. She could see the grassland surrounding them as Old Tortellini Ville grew farther and farther away. "Time for bed, princess," the man uttered as he crawled into the cell. Sakura shrank away from him, fear flooding through her as she wondered what he was going to do to her.

He hit her in the side of the head and she saw blackness.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Blood is caked around and in his fingernails, and smeared all over his eyes, contrasting sharply with his deep blue orbs. Blood is stained into his clothes and dripping down his nose and onto his chest. Blood is him, every part of him and he can't remember ever being this bloody.

But why should he be in any other state but this one? Killing makes him happy, the blood of enemies make him smile. For he is Naruto Uzumaki and he'll be damned if even killing is taken away from him.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

_I think I want to fall away_

_I've been used; I've been bruised_

_I'm really not having a good day_

.

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Afternotes1: Before you say anything, I said Shikamaru's tail on purpose. Remember in the beginning of Alice in Wonderland when the Mouse told a long 'tail'?**

**Afternotes2: Ha! Beat that, work, you can't slow my writing! Probably because this chapter is shorter than usual . . . That said, it's still obscenely long.**


	7. 007: Best

**explosive**

**Author's note1: This chapter is on crack, I swear. I must be taking drugs in my sleep or something. **

**Author's note2: You'll encounter a mysterious language here. It's not a real one.**

**If you care: We're at 007! Can anyone say James Bond?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

we are

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is what we are

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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007:

((_we are simply the best_))

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

Because we leave no traces.

.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Rain, rain, go away.

((_Rain, rain, you hurt me_))

Come again some other day.

((_Don't ever come back_))

Because today I want to play

((_I can't kill well in the rain_))

In the sunshine all day

((_My enemies can see my face clearer as I kill them_))

So, rain, rain, go away.

((_Why do you hurt me_))

And don't you ever come to stay.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_It rains, it rains, it rains all over my face and seeps through my skull_

_into my brain and down into my heart._

_My heart is encased in rain- tears- and over time the rain freezes_

_around my heart and turns to ice and it makes me feel_

cold.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

You cannot tear me down-

-_I am the Queen I am the Shit_-

-I will not fall so easily-

-_No one will ever hurt me_-

-Because I can hide behind my skin of steel-

-_I will survive_-

-And I will hurt those who tried to hurt me-

-_I will watch your head roll_-

-I have someone I need to save-

-_I have someone I am waiting for_-

-I will rip out your heart if you try to stop me-

-_I will slaughter your precious ones if you try to stop her_

_We _are _connected_. We _are _one, _no _matter _how _much _we _try _to _pretend _like _we _are _not.

_We _will _fight _together,_ even _if _we _do _not _realize _it_. Because _we _are _on _the _same _side.

((_Even _if _we _do _not _realize _it_.))

And I know because of that that everything will turn out-

((exPLOsive))

((EXplosive))

((exploSIVE))

-_fine_.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Right now, it is in your best interest to remain calm and stay where you are.

"Our Alice, our savior, is not dead. I know some of you want proof that she is not dead, but you must remember how strong her love for us was. She would not let herself fall so easily. She is perfectly fine, wherever she is. She would want all of you to stay here in the city and go about your daily lives. Remember, Alice is our rainbow in a stormy sky, and she knows that. Her understanding of our situation is perfect.

"Remember, our Alice is pretty good at getting out of every pickle she finds herself in. She will get back to us, I promise. Alice is the best of her kind.

"Remember."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

((PRETTY)) ((rainbows)) ((UNDERSTANDING)) ((love))

((SAVIOR)) ((proof)) ((BEST))

They all come together in the epic story known as

E X P L O S I V E

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Okay.

_Now _it can begin.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Alice awoke in a small room containing a bed, a dresser, a lamp, and a floor mat. The stuff in the room was fairly unremarkable; no, it was the walls that made her start.

The walls were made of _glass_.

And so was the ceiling and the floor- fortunately she was wearing pants. All around her she could see people streaming by, barely glancing at her. A constant stream of people below her, above her, to her sides, never stopping, always, always crowds of people walking by. They all stared straight ahead, all of them with their flaming red hair and business suits with the letter 'R' etched onto the front of their clothes. Each clutched a clipboard, a clipboard with one word emblazoned on it.

'PRISONER'.

They were mocking her.

Sakura sat up straight in her bed, taking in her surroundings with wide eyes. Where- where was she? What had happened? Why was she in a world that looked completely different from the Western scene she had just been in?

And what had happened to her friends?

The never ending stream of emotionless people was unnerving, Sakura realized as she stared at them for several moments and no one reacted. Where were so many people going? Were they brain washed, just like-

-_Sasuke_.

Fuck!

She wasn't wearing a shirt! She was wearing pants and underwear, but no shirt! Not even a bra!

She clutched the blanket tight around her body, but it wasn't like anybody was looking anyways.

She sat in the bad for quite some time, taking in her new surroundings with bewilderment. She wondered what was going to happen to her. Was she going to stay in this glass cell forever?

Apparently not.

A man broke the flow of moving people to turn in front of her cell. He tapped the glass twice and the entire thing shattered, glass crumpling onto the floor like a lifeless body. She stared at him and he stared back, his face an utter monotone.

He had red hair just like everyone else and the 'R' on his black business suit. The only difference from him and everyone else was that he wasn't holding a clipboard.

Well, that and the fact that he wasn't walking endlessly towards a mysterious destination.

He beckoned at her, bidding her to follow him. But she definitely didn't want to. Following strangers around disturbing places wasn't high on her priority list. She shook her head no at him.

He wouldn't have it.

He walked over to her bed and pulled her, sending her tumbling onto the floor. Sakura let out a little scream as she felt her arm nearly wrenched out of its socket. The man didn't even react and started dragging her along the ground. Her blanket slipped away, exposing her chest to the world. She tried to grasp it, but it slipped out of her hands, like so much else that had happened to her. . .

The people stopped what they were doing as the man dragged her through the complex, stopped like an elevator you put your foot in front of, stopped like an elevator because it didn't have any feelings just like the people around her. They stared ahead unblinkingly and moved again once she was past. And she was dragged along, her arm hurting. She kicked around to no avail; nothing slowed the man. Eventually she was dragged into a small room with a metal door. The man knocked on the door twice and it smoothly slid open, revealing a room full of clothes. Sakura was dragged inside it and the door was slammed shut behind her.

An old woman, hunched over and grey, rose to greet them with a creepy smile on her face. "Haas soeben no juukinay?" she asked the man.

Sakura didn't recognize the language she was speaking, a fact she cursed. She had expected everyone in Wonderland to speak the same language. It hadn't occurred to her that multiple languages would exist within the world, just like they did in hers.

"Kean," the man answered, letting go of Sakura. She clutched her arm to her. "Jil gilga sentuufenos."

"Kean, kean." The old woman hobbled over to a rack of clothes, pulling out a bright red shirt matching the hair of the inhabitants of this place. "Soas fa."

"Hiltofeen." The man took the shirt and threw it at Sakura, a clear indication for her to put it on. She stood and slipped the shirt over her head. It was a tight shirt; one that she felt was suffocating her.

The man stiffly turned away and opened up the door to the outside again and marched out. Sakura followed after him, not saying a word. This place was so unnerving that she hardly knew what else to do.

After a while the man turned down another corridor, one that was completely empty. At the end of the corridor was a huge black door, with a sign hanging off of it. It read 'QUEEN ALICE IS HERE' in large letters. Sakura stared at it with a mixture of confusion and wonder. Seriously, what the _hell_ was going on here?

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_Don't you know? We're quite possibly all mad here._

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Was there even a possibility that anything could make sense in Wonderland?

Most likely not.

The man pushed open the door with little effort, despite its massive size. Sakura walked right in without any prompting, taking in a large throne room. All around the perimeter of the room were guards with red uniforms like the lobsterbacks of the American Revolution. In the center of the room sat a pool, full to the brim with icy black water. The entirety of the room was made with a pristine white marble, and even though there were no windows or lights the room was bright. Directly behind the pool was a tall throne made of black marble, and in the throne sat a woman.

She was hardly older than Sakura, maybe twenty or twenty one, and had intense red hair like everyone else in the place. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of red as well, ringed by thick black glasses. She wore a red dress with layers of fabric and bows drooping off it. On her head sat a small crown that was really closer to a tiara than anything else. She gazed at Sakura expressionlessly. And Sakura stared back.

The door behind her slammed shut with a loud slam and Sakura became aware that it was the only way out of the room. She had no idea what was going to happen to her, what with an apparent audience with a queen and her ten million guards. She had no weapons, only her fists, whose effectiveness she doubted. Apprehensiveness flooded her body and settled into her heart.

"Loobeen Karin cin di Rano Contura." the man who had brought her here announced.

"Yur jan vooenfas, Filkturo," the queen said to him, and then looked directly at Sakura. "I am Queen Karin of Red country," she said, pushing up her glasses slightly. "You are Sakura the Outlander, correct?"

The Red Queen's voice was a careful monotone just like the rest of her, but Sakura could detect the slightest bit of emotion beneath it. Sadness. Desperation. Anger. But why would the Queen feel that way towards Sakura, when they had never met?

In an answer to the Queen's question, Sakura nodded.

The Red Queen's lips split into a mirthless smirk. "Wrong."

"I don't see how I could be wrong," Sakura said, keeping her voice blank.

"You are most definitely Alice," the Queen said. "You could not have survived here this long if you were not."

Sakura did not deign to say anything.

Naruto had said she was this 'Alice', too, but Naruto had been lying. He didn't have the sixth sense that all Wonderlanders had. Or did he? Was he somehow connected with this Red Queen Karin?

"Do you know the White Rabbit?" she asked the Queen, hoping that she would get a straight answer.

"We of the Red country do not associate with Hearts folk," Karin said. "They are barbarians."

Violence _was_ very commonplace in Hearts country.

"Alice, are you wondering why you are here?"

"I think that's perfectly natural," Sakura said, thinking that this was another trick question.

Karin lifted an eyebrow. "You are here because I needed to speak with you."

"So you kidnapped me?" Sakura burst out, unable to help herself. "Why would you go that far?"

"When I want something done it is done," Karin said stiffly. "The manner of which it is done does not concern me."

Sakura thought that was a terrible habit for a queen, but chose to hold her tongue this time.

"Now, Alice," the Red Queen said, grandeur and importance heavy in her tone. "Since you have been gone so long you owe us a favor and I therefore will decree that you must kill the Knave of Hearts."

_Kakashi?_

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Sakura snapped. "I don't even know you!"

For a split second the mask slipped and Sakura saw the true Karin underneath the monotony. And the true Karin was shallow and ugly and full of shit. "Because I will slaughter Sasuke Uchiha if you don't," the Red Queen retorted angrily.

Silence controlled the room.

_Slaughter Sasuke?_

Sakura could hear the blood roaring in her ears.

_Kill _Sasuke?

Her face was growing red.

_NO!_

"I won't let you!" she screamed out, glaring at the Queen with an intensity of an angry lion. "I won't let you!"

-_it's time to wake up-_

_-you have to realize-_

_-it's not just a game-_

_-in real life people die-_

_-it could be you-_

_-or it could be me-_

_-his head lifts up abruptly and he thinks someone is calling his name but he is alone he's always alone and no one is there so his head droops and he goes back into the whirlwind-_

"Who _are _you to say something like that to me?"

"We are simply the best, Alice," Karin said, the emotionless mask back in place. "Because we leave no traces."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

_The world around him is fading sososo fast nowadays. It seems now that he has risen above the craziness to sit over and watch it unfold without him. He seems to have more control over himself with each passing of the moon and he notices things that he would not have noticed before. He starts asking why. He starts remembering. He has a name again. He has a mother again. He has a girl again- the prettypretty girl with the pink hair who no longer a dusty photograph in his mind but a recent memory._

_But then he sees his lovely Duchess again and he slides back into the churning world and it all fades away . . ._

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

So. Fade. Away. No one is stopping you. Think. Of. How. Much easier it would be to just

-_quit_.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Leave no traces? What are you, assassins?"

"The very best," Karin said, propping up her chin with her elbow and staring at Sakura. "We of the Red country kill for hire, Alice; don't you know that? You are one of us, Alice. You left us and we have not forgotten. You will repay the debt you owe us for covering for you."

Sakura stared at the Red Queen, every part of her confused, every part of her frustrated, and she knew right then and there that she would _not _consent to killing Kakashi nor she would let Sasuke die either. Way she saw it, there was only way out of this.

A dramatic escape.

One way out of the room; the door behind her. No windows. The Queen, who appeared to have no weapons, ten guards, and the man who brought Sakura to this place. Twelve enemies. One of her.

Oh well.

"Fine," Sakura said, for all appearances giving in to the Queen's demands. "I'll do it."

Karin lifted an eyebrow. "You should always speak the truth- think before you speak- and right it down afterwards."

"I'm sure I didn't mean-" Sakura started to say (frowning deeply), but the Red Queen cut her off impatiently.

"That's just what I complain of! You _should _have meant! What do you suppose is the use of a child without any meaning? Even a joke should have some meaning- and a child's more important than a joke, I hope. You couldn't deny that, even if you tried with both hands."

"I don't deny things with my _hands_," Sakura objected, in a familiar state of thorough confusion.

"Nobody said you did," said the Red Queen. "I said you couldn't if you tried."

"You know, I don't really care about anything you have to say to me," Sakura said hotly.

"Well, then you're just proving me right," Karin said. Then Sakura decided that this nonsense was going to end.

Forever.

No more blindly following other people. Hell, now she was going to do things her way.

She spun around. The man behind looked at her with a miniscule expression of surprise before flinging his arms out randomly. Sakura didn't know what the hell he was doing with that move- most likely he was surprised that Sakura wasn't just standing there and was trying to protect himself.

Getting past his 'guard' easily, Sakura swooped down and snagged his gun.

It was different from hers; way different. It was rainbow and sleeker, but Sakura wasn't paying much attention to detail as she shot the guy in the face. He went down without even making a sound. Whipping around, she prepared to fight the other ten (and quite possibly die), when a huge explosion from behind her knocked her to her feet.

Had the guy she just killed _exploded_?

She curled up on the ground and covered her face. Something hit her- she didn't know what- but it bounced harmlessly off of her. The explosion, she realized, wasn't a very big or dangerous one.

But it provided a very convenient distraction.

She sprung up. The room was covered in a fog of dust and she could barely see three feet in front of her. She heard the yelling of the guards and surged forwards, smacking into the door. She fumbled to find the handle, but then she did and she flung it open, freeing her. She sprinted out of the room, clutching her stolen gun and having no idea of where any exits were.

She ran out of the corridor with no people and quickly found herself back in the sea of red haired, emotionless people. With her bubblegum pink hair she would surely stick out like a sore thumb.

She pushed people aside roughly, her gun held out in front of her, ready for any possible threats. Through corridor after corridor she went, all full of people, until she came into a wide, darkened room.

It was square, with four entryways in each of the walls where a door would be. She could see people streaming past. Sakura walked swiftly across the room and then-

Someone came up from behind her wrapped their arm around her, choking her. She gasped and struggled, seeing black spots in her vision. She stamped on their foot but they didn't let go, and so Sakura decided to take more extreme measures. She grabbed his balls and pulled hard.

That's what they had told her to do in self defense class, and, what do you know, it had saved her life.

The man released her, hissing in pain and she swung around, ready to shoot him in the face. But his other arm went up, knocking hers aside and sending her gun skidding across the room. Sakura's knowledge of self defense ended here. Her mind whirled as the man's other arm came whipping towards her head and, oh dear, that was a killing blow-

She dropped down and proceeded to head butt him in the balls/stomach area and actually managed to knock him down. He sprawled on the ground with an "oof!" but wasn't out just yet. He kicked the unsuspecting Sakura in the throat and she gagged, temporarily unable to breath. She forced herself to pay attention to him and he was getting up, fumbling for something on his holster. Eyes wide, Sakura launched herself at her gun and picked it up in hands that were shaking, she noticed. She spun around just in time to see a gun that was pointed at her face. She didn't pause and they didn't have a stand-off like in an action movie, because this was real life and in real life things were realistic-

She rolled out just as the man shot a bullet at her. It slammed harmlessly into the ground, sending up pieces of floor. She took a turn at shooting but her bullet missed his head like she planned and instead buried itself into his arm.

Probably flooded with adrenaline, the man barely reacted and instead took another shot at Sakura. The shot went wild, however, as someone jerked his arm up and stabbed a sword straight through his neck. Sakura found herself looking up at-

Gaara?

"Keep on going left," he intoned, and then turned and swiftly went back into the crowd of moving people. "Wait!" she yelled and jumped up, stepping over the dying man and sprinting after him. But Gaara, with his red hair, fit easily into the sea of people and she could not find him.

What was going _on_?

Why was Gaara here?

And did he appear to be trying to _help_ her?

Even if she couldn't trust him, she would follow what he had told her, because that was the only clue she had to getting out of here. If she ended up getting hopelessly lost, well, that wasn't any different from how she was now.

Before she left the she took the holster from the dying man. His gun was exactly the same as hers; the weird rainbow handgun. Sakura placed it in the holster and ran out, taking a left.

She took left after left after left and there were no shortages of lefts, it seemed. Every turn took her into a hallway just like the one she was leaving, jammed full of people and blank marble walls with no doors anywhere.

But she kept turning left.

The hallway opened out into a large courtyard.

A courtyard.

A way out.

The bad part?

Four guards in red coats pointed their guns at her.

Sakura wheeled back into the entryway of the door, pulling her rainbow gun out as a bullet smashed into the wall where she had just been. In the window of the door opposite her, she saw the guards- three males and a female, a nice change up for all the feminists out there- run for cover. Sakura seized the chance and shot one guy in the back of the neck; he fell, slumping over like a limp banana.

Her accuracy with a gun quite amazed herself.

The other three hid behind two columns that held up a balcony overlooking the courtyard and some boxes stacked up on the right side. Sakura peeked out a little bit but jumped back as a bullet sailed out at her. These guys really wanted to kill her, she realized. But didn't Karin say she wanted Sakura to kill Kakashi for them? Maybe Sakura's escape said to Karin just how much she was willing to do that and the Red Queen decided to dispose of her. It was costing her a lot of guards, considering how badass Sakura was proving herself to be.

. . . Even though that last fight had been more than a little clumsy.

In the window, Sakura saw one of the men behind the left column peek his head out and she jumped out, firing off a shot at him (or in his general area). The shot went wild and sailed harmlessly past him. Sakura cursed as she jumped back into her hiding spot. She needed a better gun. And to be back home, eating ice cream and listening to Sasuke complain about how he couldn't eat anything remotely unhealthy nowadays because the soccer coach would have his head-

Sakura glanced into the window, at the boxes, and for the first time noticed that one had the words CAUTION: EXPLOSIVE on it.

Oh, _come on_. Was this for real? That was so convenient! It was like something out of a James Bond movie!

Convenient or not, Sakura didn't like to waste her luck, and so shot a bullet into the explosive boxes and shut her eyes briefly as a deafening explosion sounded. When she opened them and peeked out she found that the entire courtyard was on fire and four charred bodies were strewn about. Lovely.

Sakura ran across the ruined courtyard, careful not to get burned. She ran out into a lovely, blessed, free forest and glanced behind her briefly at a magnificent, marble and glass skyscraper. She didn't ever look back again as she ran out into the forest, into liberation, because she was so-

-free.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

There's a lot to believe in Wonderland. It is the place where men can become queens, skyscrapers can exist along with old Western towns, girls can kill without remorse, and humans can be cats, caterpillars, rabbits, and mice. There's a lot to believe in Wonderland, because everything is so unbelievable. One day you can have a normal experience of your boyfriend dumping you, and then his brother can be taking you to another world, and after that you can be told that you must save your ex-boyfriend, and finally you are told that you are someone else and that you must kill or watch someone be killed. There's a lot to believe in Wonderland, because Wonderland makes you grow up.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

My mind's a blur. I don't know anything. I'm told one thing and then I'm told something else. So I've decided. I guess I have to make my own path. I guess I have to do things my way.

Because I sure as hell won't take orders from anybody.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

What's it like when you're finally as Explosive as I am?

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

At least it's nice that we finally understand each other.

_At least it's nice to know that someone loves me_.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_Fugaku?"_

" _. . . Yes, Mikoto?"_

_He was surprised. Surprised that she was speaking._

"_Do you remember that beautiful place I gave birth to Itachi in? Remember when we were taking a walk in the park and walked into this magical place with the rainbow sparrows and the fat green flies? And then my water broke and we didn't have time to get to the hospital so Itachi was born there?"_

"_Yes, Mikoto. I remember."_

_He wouldn't ever forget._

"_I think Sasuke's there."_

"_. . . Me, too."_

_He knew it was true._

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

_I realize there's so much I can do_

_Solely off of intuition I can bring my goal to fruition_

_That being that I'm not leaving without you_

.

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**I love this chapter and I wrote it. I wrote it really freaking fast, too. But I'm sure no one's really complaining except my dead brain cells.**


	8. 008: Blood

**explosive**

**Author's note 1: So, first of all, I just want to say to everybody who's reviewed so far thank you. I really, really appreciate it a lot. Just want you guys to know that :)**

**Author's note2: A lot of people have been saying they're confused with this story, especially with the last chapter. **

**YOU ARE MEANT TO BE CONFUSED.**

**In a story, the reader should feel whatever the main character's feeling, and right now Sakura is confused as heck. So stick through to the end and everything will be revealed. If you're really, really confused, just PM me.**

**If you care: Godfather reference in this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland. **_**DUH.**_

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura didn't really know where she was running or what the hell was exactly going on; when you're trying to escape from a random skyscraper in the middle of the forest, most of your thoughts are about escaping as opposed to where you're going for the moment. Sakura ran until it was practically nighttime out and the sky scraper had been obscured by trees. She stopped by smacking into a tree, wheezing and gasping with the effort of running so far. She took a few moments to catch her breath, listening to her thundering heartbeat.

_Now _she was starting to worry about where she was and what had just happened to her.

First of all, she was separated from her traveling buddies, all she had on her was a rainbow gun, and she had been ordered to kill Kakashi or have Sasuke die. Neither option looked particularly attractive to Sakura, but she figured since she ran out on the Red Queen that Sasuke was going to have a very horrible day soon. That line of thought made Sakura's breath quicken again and she forced her mind from going down that path. There wasn't much she could do for Sasuke. She would just have to hope for the best.

Secondly, why had Karin referred to her as Alice, when she wasn't this Alice character? And why had they thought Sakura belonged to their assassin business? Last time she checked, Sakura wasn't leading a double life and didn't have a twin living in Wonderland.

She needed to figure this crap out. Wonderland was a mysterious place for sure, and she intended on cracking those mysteries. She wasn't going to be kept in the dark any longer.

Minus the whole it-was-getting-dark-outside thing.

Sakura didn't know where the hell she would sleep, and if any predators roamed the forest at night. You'd think that she would have asked Shikamaru or Hinata that a long time ago, but, nope, she didn't.

When the forest abruptly opened out into a grassland, however, she began to feel a bit hopeful.

She recognized it as the same grassland she had been in with her traveling buddies- what other grassland could it be? Even better, she could see the lights of a city maybe a half an hour away.

She hurried towards the lights.

As she came closer, Sakura realized the city was absolutely massive. Several towers stood everywhere. Her eyes could barely take in the whole thing. A huge wall surrounding the city blocked out any noise and invaders.

The grass thinned out as she approached and eventually disappeared, leaving hard, packed in earth like in Old Tortellini Ville. She noticed as she walked up several tents and carts and the like were just sitting outside the city walls. She wondered why they all didn't just go inside the city.

A man sitting on the ground outside his tent said to Sakura as she passed, "No one's getting in, girl." She didn't respond and hurried on.

She came to a big, black gate guarded by exactly one person. She supposed there were more guards up on top on the wall. Peering the past the gate, she saw another wall.

_This must be an important city, _she thought, _to be so fortified and huge_.

"Hello," she greeted the guard leaning against the wall, a single torch in it casting an odd glow on his face.

Wait-

"There's no sort of use in knocking," he said.

-was he wearing a uniform with hearts decorated on it?

Did that mean she was in the-

"How am I to get in?" she asked him, for it didn't look like he could open the big gate all by himself.

"There's so sort of use in knocking," he repeated. "There might be some sense in knocking if we had a door between us. For instance, if you were_ inside_, you might knock, and I could let you out, you know."

Coupled with the rambling he was looking up into the sky all the time he was speaking and this Sakura found decidedly uncivil. _What is with him?_ she wondered. "How am I to get in?" she asked him in a very polite tone.

"I shall sit here," he said. "Till tomorrow-"

Right as he said that someone in one of the tents yelled loudly and threw a plate. It soared right over the guard's head and smashed into the ground. Sakura jumped.

"-or the next day, maybe," continued the guard in the same tone, as if nothing had happened.

"How am I to get in?" Sakura asked again more loudly.

"_Are _you to get in at all?" asked the guard. "That's the first question, you know."

Sakura was beginning to get quite irritated at this point. "Why is everyone so ridiculous here?" she muttered to herself.

"I shall sit here," the guard said again. "On and off, for days and days."

"But what am I to do?" Sakura snapped.

"Anything you like," the guard answered her congenially, and promptly began whistling.

Sakura was contemplating slapping him when the voice of a man rang out. "It's no use talking to him. He's perfectly idiotic."

"Then why was he made a guard?" Sakura asked, exasperated, and whipped around to face the newcomer.

He was another guard, with ten hearts emblazoned on his jacket whereas the crazy whistling guy only had eight. "I don't choose the guards, girlie," the Ten of Hearts said. "I don't like to question my superiors' decisions much, either."

Sakura thought that was a perfectly natural line of reasoning for him. If she were in a line of work that involved killing people, she'd keep her head down and follow orders too. But, according to the Red Queen Karin, she _was_ in that line of work . . .

"So, how come I can't get into the city?" she asked, pleading with herself not to think about that just yet.

The guard seemed mildly surprised with her question. "What, ya haven't heard?" he asked, lifting his eyebrows. "Nothing can get in or out of the city of Hearts."

So it was the city of Hearts! It was, it really was! She had inadvertently stumbled into the place she had been trying to reach for the past five days or so, the place where Sasuke was! Sakura felt a fierce sort of hope grow in her chest, but then she remembered that she had nobody to back her up and didn't have any sort of provisions.

And now it looked like she couldn't even get into the city.

"Why is that?" Sakura asked, keeping any disappointment out of her tone. "I live out in the outskirts, so I haven't heard anything about a blockade." she lied.

"The Explosives are running the show here now, and they've put one of their puppets as the new Queen of Hearts," the Ten explained to her. "He's ordered that nothing can come in or out of the city to try and undermine the anti-Explosive support in the city by not giving them any resources. Seems to be working well for him."

"Um, who's, uh, the new Queen of Hearts?"

The Ten of Hearts shrugged as the Eight kept whistling at the sky behind them. "Don't know too much about him. He stays inside the castle all day. I heard he's a young one named Saucy or something like that."

Saucy?

_Oh._

Sasuke.

What were the Explosives doing to him?

"Other than the whole blockade thing, has he been doing a good job?" Sakura asked, feeling that a citizen of Hearts would want to know how their new monarch was doing. She did, too.

The Ten shrugged. "I guess so. A lot of the fighting has diminished since he took over, but that's probably because the Explosives are winning."

"They are?" Sakura felt a thrill of panic run through her. No. The war couldn't be over. Who knows what the Explosives would do to Sasuke when they didn't need him anymore?

"Yup. It's probably because the only ones who care about defeating the Explosives nowadays are the politicians and the army. Most politicians have been executed and the army is being reduced to rubble. Ya get the picture."

"I see." And she did. She saw the country of Hearts for what it really was; not a fantastical storybook world because storybook worlds were just that- fantasy. This was a Real World with Real People and Real Problems. Hearts country was a lawless land where the people were so used to violence and war that they didn't even care when a new group took over their country. It was the perfect land for the chaos oriented Explosives, where the madness and war of the country would keep them entertained for a long time. But was she really so shocked? There were countries just like that in her world, too, like Israel and Libya and Mexico. Violence existed and there wasn't always a happy ending and just because she was in a fantasy world it didn't mean that she would go on a crazy cool adventure and fall in love and never be exposed to any real danger.

And that was why Sasuke and she needed to get out. She couldn't risk exposing them to any more danger than they had been exposed to. She had already been kidnapped by some madwoman who thought she was an assassin and Sasuke had been kidnapped in a different way by a seductive girl who was using him to kill. This wasn't their world and it wasn't their problem and they shouldn't be involved in it; they needed to _get out_. And the only they could do so was if Sakura stormed a castle, grabbed Sasuke and recited some voodoo magic and clicked her heels and thought really hard that there truly was no place like home.

Because this world was not hers _and it never ever would be_.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

008:

((_blood surrounded the bodies_))

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

You know, darling, you really should've left the exploring and the adventures for me.

.

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"So, is there any way that I could get into the city?"

The Ten of Hearts shrugged, looking around surreptitiously and said in a low tone, "Depends on what you have with you, girlie."

Sakura gave him a hard look and said flatly, "I have a gun."

The man laughed a little. "I'm not looking for that kind of stuff, girlie. Nope, if ya wanna get inside ya gotta make a fair trade. It would cost me my job if my bosses found out I let ya in and I want something to make sure it's worth the risk."

_So much for following orders_, Sakura thought sourly. All she had on her were her clothes and the rainbow gun, neither of which she thought the guard particularly wanted. She didn't have anything to offer him. "I don't have anything," she told him honestly.

The Ten seemed disappointed, but then his expression brightened as a devious smile crossed his face. Sakura did not like that look at all. "Well, girlie, ya look like a gal who can take good care of herself, judging by that gun on your belt." Sakura wondered for a moment if the rainbow gun was a staple of the Red assassins. "Listen, I'll let ya inside if ya do me a little favor. Sound good?"

"What favor?" Sakura asked cautiously.

The Ten shrugged. "It's no big deal. There's a man I don't like currently nesting in the castle. He's my superior, so I can't do nothing about his general jackass-ed-ness. But ya can, so I want ya to leave a little message for him."

"I'm listening." Sakura was vaguely reminded of a fantasy video game Sasuke liked to play in which the main character was an assassin.

"This man is the Ace of Hearts. Real name's Asuma Sarutobi. He's got a nice little office up in Hearts castle where I want ya to implant a finger- a _real_ finger; I don't care how ya get it- in his desk. With the finger I want ya to write a little note saying 'hearts, hearts, Asuma'. Got that?"

What?

How was she supposed to break into Hearts castle unnoticed and deposit a _finger_ into the desk of some random soldier? Wouldn't people know right away with their sixth sense that she was an Outlander-

Wait.

She should've been stopped by someone a long time ago, asking her what an Outlander was doing in Wonderland. Instead, people had reacted as if she was one of them. But Shikamaru and Hinata had known instantly that she was an Outlander. Had she somehow _become_ part of Wonderland in her travels there? Was she truly this 'Alice' like the Red Queen thought she was?

She supposed that was just another thing added to her ever-growing list of questions that she planned on finding the answers to. For now, this new development would prove very useful to her.

But back to the finger thing, how the _hell _was she supposed to do that?

Maybe she would just agree and he'd let her inside and she wouldn't actually do it.

"I know what you're thinking, girlie," the Ten of Hearts said, wagging his finger around. "Ya won't actually do it once I let you in, right? Wrong. I have friends on the other side of this wall, just like ya have friends in a skyscraper-" So he _did _think she was part of the Red assassins group, "-and my friends will be keeping a close eye on ya. So you'd better do it or I'll be forced to make ya another offer that ya can't refuse."

Sakura was beginning to get irritated with him. An offer she couldn't refuse? Was he saying he'd kill her if she didn't do this 'favor' for him? Bastard.

But she did need to get into Hearts city.

"Fine," she said.

The Ten seemed surprised. "You'll do it?"

"Yeah."

"Ya sure, girlie?"

"Do you want me to change my mind?"

"Not really, but I just wanted to give ya a chance to back out if ya had doubts."

"I don't have any doubts." And she didn't. She wasn't much scared of the Ten and his 'friends'.

"Good, then." The Ten clapped his hands together in a sound muffled by his black gloves. "Follow me, girlie, and I'll show ya a secret way into the city of Hearts." He turned around and took off at a brisk pace. Sakura jogged a little to keep up with him.

The amount of tents and people camped out didn't lessen as the Ten came to a place in the wall where one big, black, locked door was set firmly into it. He produced a set of keys from his belt. The distinctive jingle made several people look up hopefully but the Ten said, "Not for ya guys. This lady here's a special force Hearts soldier." The people looked away, disheartened. Sakura felt a pang in her heart for them.

"This door leads up to the barracks," the Ten told her. "Ya just stay with me until we get into the city and no one will question us." Sakura nodded.

The Ten turned the key in the lock and opened up the door, revealing a set of steep, grimy stairs. He strode up them quickly with Sakura following closely behind. The door slammed shut behind them, telling Sakura that the deal was final and that she couldn't get out. She didn't give any indication of her misgivings when the Ten turned around briefly to look at her.

They emerged out into the barracks, the night casting a dark glow over the beings looking down over the city of Hearts' massive walls. Some torches illuminated a few feet around them, but other than that, the barracks were in darkness.

A few guards nodded to the Ten as he passed by, but most kept their eyes on the outside and didn't as so much as glance at the small companion keeping to the Ten's side. Sakura had expected someone to at least say something to the Ten, but nobody did. She thanked her lucky stars.

Eventually they came to another set of stairs, this one, the Ten told her in a whisper, leading down to a spot on the left side of the huge Hearts castle. Sakura felt apprehensive, but told herself that it was highly unlikely that she would meet Naruto or the other Explosive, Ino, tonight.

She hadn't given much thought to where she would go after she was inside the city, but realized with a start that she had no money to pay for a room at an inn or something as she and the Ten descended the stairs, the castle of Hearts looming ominously overhead, blotting out the stars. She didn't really want to ask the Ten for money.

They stopped at the foot of the stairs, a rusty gate the only thing preventing her from entering the city officially. "Alrighty, girlie," the Ten said, producing his ring of keys again and unlocking the gate. It swung open creakily. "So, remember our deal. Oh, and some advice; the city never sleeps, we're heavy on crime, and the church will always give ya a place to stay if you ain't got one."

"How long do I have to complete the favor for you?" Sakura asked, keeping her voice blank.

He shrugged. "I'll give ya five days. Sound fair?"

"Sure." She'd take all the time she could get.

"Then I'll be leaving ya, girlie." He turned to head back up the stairs, but then stopped, one hand resting on the gate. "What's your name, girlie?"

Sakura gave him a small smile before saying, "Alice."

The Ten nodded and went back up the stairs, leaving Sakura alone with the castle. The castle in which somewhere within, Sasuke slept.

Wondering why she had lied, Sakura walked randomly towards a source of light, thinking correctly that it was the lights of buildings part of the city that never slept- just like New York City, she thought. She decided to try and find a church, since the clergy would apparently give her a place to stay for the night.

She approached a group of tall, at least three story buildings from which light was pouring, inside and around. She could hear the talking of people, but surprisingly, no laughter. She supposed it really wasn't that much of a surprise. The city was in a blockade, after all.

Something was dreadfully smelly, too. Sakura hadn't smelled anything like it before, but it made her want to gag.

She pushed through the buildings and emerged into a plaza of sorts and threw up a little bit in her mouth.

People hurried through the streets and the plaza, most wearing clothes with a few holes in them and dirt and grime smeared all over. A man leaned against the wall of a building, eyes rimmed with red and staring out at nothing. A half naked child ran about, pulling on people's clothes and asking for money. But the most horrific scene in the plaza was the bodies piled up in the streets, people with bullet wounds through their heads, or some with no heads at all. Blood surrounded the disturbingly large piles of bodies and flies buzzed around. She could see worms wiggling in the eyes of one corpse, the mouth open in a never ending scream. Sakura was transported back to the day when Naruto slaughtered those people with a laugh and a smile. She pressed her hand to her mouth. She was still not desensitized to such carnage. She killed people who were going to kill her or her friends; she would _never_ slaughter needlessly and leave their bodies out for innocent _children _to see!

Sakura hurried past the plaza, using a great effort to keep her eyes off the bodies, but they were everywhere. She wondered if after the battle in which the old monarchy had been sacked the soldiers who died were just piled in the streets. But, no, the dead people were wearing clothes of a civilian, making the scene far more horrific.

Why wasn't Sasuke doing anything about this? Did he simply not care? Even if this wasn't his world, it was wrong to leave bodies in the streets where minds would be scarred and diseases could spread. Maybe the Explosives were sending a message to anybody trying to resist their rule.

Sakura emerged from her thoughts to see an older woman hurrying down the street a little ways in front of her. She was wearing clothes that distinctively reminded Sakura of a nun. She jogged up to the woman, saying, "Hey!"

The woman turned, a flash of fear dissolving in her eyes when she saw it was just a teenaged girl. But it returned when she saw the gun on Sakura's belt.

"Excuse me," Sakura said, trying to seem as friendly as possible. "Do you know where the church is? I'm looking for a place to stay."

"Why, yes, I do; I'm going there right now," the woman said, a little nervously. "I'm a nun, you see."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you."

She fell into stride beside the old woman (which was admittedly much slower than she had been going before). "I'm afraid you're not the only one seeking a place to stay," the nun said apologetically. "You might have to sleep on the floor."

"That's fine." Sakura said, and it was. She'd rather have a holy book with her than a cadaver outside.

They came to a massive church that reminded her of the awe-inspiring and insanely tall Gothic structures of the Middle Ages. Engraved above the front doors to the cathedral were these words:

THE HOLY CHURCH OF THE PEACH

WORSHIP FRUIT FOREVER

(MODELED AFTER THE LAMER CATHOLIC CHURCH)

And some people thought Catholics were crazy.

The nun pushed the doors open and bid Sakura inside. The church was filled with pictures and statues of peaches, most of which had a halo surrounding them and people with sallow faces and grim expressions. The nun nodded to Sakura before disappearing into a back room. Sakura wandered around before settling into a pew. She opened up a book of prayers and psalms. 'Oh holy peach, your outside is red and yellow/ your inside is yellow too/ you are so yummy to eat' one read. Sakura smiled in spite of the depression around her. She'd have to tell Sasuke about the church of the peach. Wait . . .

"Does the message of the peach bring you joy?" a man asked congenially from above her.

Sakura looked up to see an older man dressed in robes like a priest smiling gently down on her. "Yes," Sakura said (she wasn't lying). "I take great comfort in the peach's message." (Now she was lying.)

"I'm glad," said the priest. "So many have lost the way of the light and turned to the infernal church of the broccoli instead. But why, I must ask myself. The peach is lighter, a symbol of lightness itself. The broccoli is green, reminding one of vomit and decaying bodies- and I daresay we get enough of those. The peach is so much easier to eat, too. Have you ever heard a child refuse a peach?"

"No, I guess," Sakura said, thinking about how she really hadn't. The priest continued his tirade against the evil vegetable broccoli.

"Broccoli in its living form is fast moving and hard to catch. Why do people think they can mimic it? No human will ever be as fast as a broccoli, because it is evil. The peach is slow and deliberate in its movements, which is how we should be as well. Do you not agree?"

"Um," said Sakura.

"Of course you agree! Why would you be in the church of the peach if you did not worship it and belief in it's every word! Now, listen her, darling," the priest said kindly at the perplexed expression on Sakura's face. "Peaches are like plum cake. You should pass it 'round first and then cut it up. Does that not make things more sense sounding to you?"

"A little bit," Sakura lied again.

The priest nodded enthusiastically. "See! The peaches are much easier to understand then the broccoli! Over there they tell their worshippers that broccoli looks like trees! Now, does that make things any sense sounding to you?"

"No," Sakura said, fearing the priest's reaction if she said yes.

The priest smiled brightly and was about to say more when a bullet slammed through his head and knocked him to the ground.

Screaming erupted all around her. Sakura ducked into the pew while people scrambled for cover. At the entrance to the church stood four heavily armed card soldiers and-

-Naruto?

"Listen here," he said calmly, all traces of his usual bubbly personality gone. "Our Queen decrees that no one may take refuge in the churches. Understand?" And he lifted a machine gun- a _real_ one, not like Neji's submachine gun- and shot into the crowd of people.

Screams rang out again, and Sakura knew without a doubt _that she could not let him see her_.

She used the confusion to run towards the back of the church. Most churches had a few entrances, and since there was no way she could leave through the front doors, she thought she'd try and search for another one. She could hear the terrified screaming of the people Naruto was brutally murdering as she entered into a dark room with three doors on each of its three walls facing Sakura. She tried the one on her left hurriedly. Locked. She tired the one on her right. Locked. Suddenly, she felt the weight of something in her pocket and pulled out a dreadfully familiar silver key. She stared it at in astonishment for a second before striding to the last door and unlocking it. She ran into a darkened room, clutching the silver key and her gun. In the room sat a table with one lit candle. One man sat at the table, who rose when she entered. She pointed the gun at his face. "Calm, down, Sakura," the man said, and Sakura recognized with a start the voice of Gaara. "It's the door on the right."

"Who are you, my personal tour guide?" Sakura snapped, thoroughly confused at seeing him once again during another mad escape dash.

He barely moved, saying only, "Naruto's coming."

And so she sprinted from the room, and opened the door on the right with her key.

It opened out into a dark alley, into which Sakura gratefully ran. She kept running, even as she knew that no one was following her. An abandoned building came into view and Sakura hurried up to it. The front door was unlocked, thankfully, but it was so crusted over with rust that she had to use all of her strength just to throw it open. But then it was and she jumped inside, slamming it behind her. The large room she jumped into was dark, but moonlight streamed through, revealing what appeared to be-

A library.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

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_I'm SCREAMING;_

_CAN'T YOU HEAR ME?_

.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**I'm not making fun of the Catholic Church with my church of the peach. I just couldn't resist throwing in that silly little bit to try and lighten things up a bit.**

**SHAMELESS ADVERTISING: If you like SasuIno and you're in the mood for something angsty, I just posted an oneshot called holding onto fire (which is the reason why this chapter took so long for me to post).**


	9. 009: Cry

**explosive**

**Author's note1: And things get stranger and stranger. Just hold on, guys. The recap at the beginning is really more for me than anybody else. :3**

**Author's note2: This chapter contains an 'OMG SAKURA YOU FREAKING IDIOT MOMENT'. Enjoy.**

**If you care: School starts soon. Blegh.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

So, picture this:

Your boyfriend of four wonderful years just decided he didn't like you so much anymore, so he broke up with you a few weeks before you were to go off to your first year of college. You thought you didn't like him much anymore either, but you run up to your room and start crying. Soon after, a mysterious, familiar looking man enters your room somehow and picks you up and jumps out of your window into a massive hole. You're not really sure what the hell is going on, but the man matter-of-factly states that because you were crying he'd thought he'd take you to another world to cheer you up. How sweet of him. Anyways, once you land in the world you find out that your ex-boyfriend is there too, being controlled by a group of people called Explosives. Explosives are people who exist to bring chaos and disorder. Sounds like a fantasy world, doesn't it? Well, that's because it is.

Your life becomes one big roller coaster. First you are told by a mad hatter that your ex is going to die, and then you are told by a dormouse and a white rabbit that you and your ex will be used for a ceremony to summon a demon of chaos. So you grab the rabbit and the dormouse along with a caterpillar and a march hare and set out to take back your ex from hearts castle and get home.

But you find out that the real reason why you and your ex were brought to wonderland is to become super soldiers for the Explosives to help them win a war against the original inhabitants of hearts. The man who brought you here, a cheshire cat, hints at this, but is unfortunately shot to death by one of your companions, who does not realize that the cat is on your side. You and your companions piece together the clues, but still plan on storming hearts castle to get your ex. Besides, according to rules of something or other, you cannot leave this fantasy world without your ex anyways.

You are almost there when you are kidnapped by a group of assassins who think you are one of them, a girl named 'Alice'. They demand you kill a man you recently met, a knave, or they will kill your ex-boyfriend. This fills you with a sort of panic and you bust out of the assassins hideout with the help of the hare, who you had previously thought was a spy working for the Explosives. You begin to become very confused.

Separated from your companions, you travel on your own to the city of hearts, which contains the castle of hearts. No one is allowed entry to due a decree of the new queen of hearts, who happens to be your ex-boyfriend. But you manage to get inside by promising a guard to do a rather nasty favor for him. The city of hearts, you find out, is rotting from the inside with no fresh supplies and the harsh rule of your ex. You take refuge in an old library, desperately seeking answers to your many problems and questions.

You have been forced to kill to survive. You have been forced to sleep in the wilderness where predators could get you. You have been manipulated. You have no food. And you are so dreadfully confused, weary, and desperate to leave this non-wonderland.

What would you do?

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

These are your many problems:

1: You have to get your ex-boyfriend back from the clutches of the Explosives, but you only have one gun with a limited amount of rounds in it and no companions to help you.

2: You have been told by the leader of an assassin group that you owe a debt to them, and must kill a man named Kakashi Hatake or have your boyfriend die. You have no intention of doing or allowing either. Furthermore, the leader addressed you as 'Alice', leading you to believe that she has mistaken you for someone else. But instead of explaining that, that you decided to kill multiple people in a daring escape from them.

3: In order to get into the blockaded city of Hearts, you were forced to make a deal in which you would leave a message for a man who the Ten of Hearts (who let you in) does not like. The message consists of leaving a finger and a note that says 'hearts, hearts, Asuma' in the man's desk. However, you have no idea how you are going to get a finger or how you will even place the note in the desk without anybody noticing. Furthermore, you have a deadline of five days, and if you don't do it, the Ten will use his assassin 'friends' to kill you.

4: The March Hare, Gaara, who you thought was a traitor to the Hearts country folk, has helped you escape on two occasions. You have absolutely no idea why he would do that.

5: You just might be in love with your ex-boyfriend.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura Haruno is: confused as hell.

Sasuke Uchiha is: somewhere in lala land. It's not pretty.

Naruto Uzumaki is: depressed off his ass over the death of one of his closest friends. He's not his usual happy self.

Shikamaru Nara is: wondering what the hell happened two days ago with the whole kidnapping of Alice. He'll have to get her back somehow.

Gaara is: Who knows?

Itachi Uchiha is: somewhere in the clouds, hopefully.

Hinata Hyuga is: determined to get Sakura back. She'll do anything to do that.

Neji Hyuga is: deciding he'll follow whatever Hinata does. He's headstrong too, but he doesn't like to be separated from Hinata.

Ino Yamanaka is: wondering if Naruto will grow a pair any time soon and planning on how she'll torture Sakura over killing Itachi. It's gonna be great.

Because we're worse than a soap opera. Our drama makes a high schooler's look like kindergartener's. You might have a chick who's sleeping with ten different people, but we are in life or death situations.

WE CAN'T HAVE A DO OVER ONCE IT'S FINISHED.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Once Sakura's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that the library seemed extremely old and hadn't been touched in a long time. The room was massive, about the size of a school gym, with bookshelves and the occasional chair and table. Everything was covered with a layer of dust. Curiosity overwhelming her, Sakura walked among the shelves, looking at the title of books. Botany of Wonderland. Fables and Myths in Wonderland. Every book seemed to have something to do with Wonderland, and there didn't seem to be any actual stories. As Sakura walked among the books, she forgot the stresses on her mind for a little while, enchanted by these foreign titles.

She was just turning the corner of a bookshelf, intending to look at more titles, when she saw something that gave her a start.

There was a little opening with a big, comfy looking armchair and a table. That was perfectly ordinary; no, it was the fact that there was a _person_ sitting in the armchair, an odd looking one. He was a young looking man dressed ornately in robes covered in hearts and ribbons. His dark hair was piled on top of his head in a ponytail with some strands falling out, and it was streaked with red highlights. His face was painted white, lips and even ears, with a bright red heart on one cheek and a purple heart on the other. Several rings and bracelets with gemstones embedded in them adorned his hands and wrists.

He was sleeping, his chest rising and falling evenly, a book on his lap where it had dropped after he fell asleep. And he looked so achingly familiar that Sakura felt something throb in her chest and she couldn't place why.

She wondered why a man who looked to be very wealthy was doing in an abandoned library, and if she should wake him to let him know another person was here. She poked his shoulder gingerly but he hardly stirred and she decided to leave him alone. She turned to leave. Her eyelids were feeling heavy and she wanted to find a chair a ways away from him so she could sleep too. But all ideas of sleep disappeared when her eyes snagged on a book sitting in a bottom row.

RULES AND REGULATION OF THE STORYBOOK WORLD WONDERLAND

Sakura's heart jumped into her throat.

Could this book be the one where Shikamaru and the others got their rules from? Surely it could provide some answers to the questions Sakura had been burning up with. With a hasty glance towards the sleeping, beautiful man, Sakura pulled out the heavy book from the shelf. It was huge, bigger than the Bible with print just as small.

She heaved it onto the table, careful not to make a huge slam. She lifted the cover open to the first page, which contained a very, very long table of contents.

_I. Introduction . . . 1_

_II. Wonderland as a Whole . . . 5_

_III. Main Rules of Wonderland . . . 22_

Her eyes skimmed down the page, looking for something that would help her. Then she saw it.

_XXXII. Introduction and Rules Pertaining to Outlanders . . . 567_

Sakura flipped over to page 567. She skipped the introduction; she already knew enough about Outlanders. She just wanted to know the rules about her.

She skimmed through some of them; for a lot were confusing and silly to her ("Outlanders may not participate in activities that cause them to think repeatedly about tourniquets."). But then she saw some that were truly interesting.

_Rule 10: Outlanders are forbidden from leaving Wonderland without the presence of another Outlander._

_Outlanders are fragile, delicate things who scare easily. The process of getting to Wonderland is terrifying and mind-boggling, and the process of getting home even worse. So we and other divinities feel that it would be a smart idea for the Outlander trying to get home to have another Outlander with them so they don't feel so scared._

Sakura had to read the entry a few times, thinking the whole time she was doing that '_what?_' She would have gone to take Sasuke back even if there wasn't a silly rule, but she wondered how much trouble other Outlanders had gone through because of this stupid rule.

But then it hit her; it wasn't like she actually had to follow any of these rules. She'd prove it by thinking about tourniquets. Thinking was an activity, wasn't it?

_Tourniquet, tourniquet, tourn . . ._

What?

She couldn't.

She literally could not think of tourni- tourniwhats?

_Damn_. So these rules were really real. Damn again.

Sakura sighed a miniscule sigh and glanced over at the man. Still sleeping.

And she looked back down and found on the next page 'Pertaining to Alice'.

She stared at it for a bit, blinked a little bit, and then bent down to read the section, eyes as big as saucers.

_Rule 11: (THIS IS A FACT NOT A RULE) Pertaining to Alice_

_Alice is an Outlander who has become deeply intertwined with Wonderland and affected so many people in it that Wonderlanders begin to think that he or she is originally from Wonderland and was never an Outlander. This does not happen to all Wonderlanders. However, if the Outlander stays in Wonderland for an extended period of time, it will._

_What happens is that a fog similar to the Explosive power of mind control settles over the Wonderlander's mind when they try to associate the 'Alice' with the term Outlander, causing them to choose to ignore it and forget that the 'Alice' is not really part of Wonderland. Wonderlanders also with their sixth sense feel an aura that a Wonderlander would give off from the 'Alice', leading them to cement their belief that the 'Alice' is a Wonderlander. Most who believe they are a part of the 'Alice's' life develop memories with the 'Alice' in them that correspond with memories held by others._

_The name Alice came from the name of a young girl from Earth who entered Wonderland few hundred years ago and was never questioned by any of Wonderland's inhabitants for being an Outlander. 'Alices' only began showing up after she was gone. Today, only a few 'Alices' live in Wonderland._

And suddenly, everything made perfect sense.

She had definitely been deeply involved in Wonderland. Hell, she was part of a plot to end a war. So, the Red Queen Karin hadn't mistaken her for someone else, she actually thought Sakura was part of her Red assassin group. And that was why no one had questioned her in the city of Hearts. The Ten of Hearts had mentioned that he knew with his sixth sense that she was part of the Red assassins. She wondered if Shikamaru, Neji, and Hinata thought she was this 'Alice' too.

She wondered if Sasuke did.

So, on Earth she was Sakura Haruno, eighteen, set to go off to college in a few weeks. But in Wonderland, she was Alice, killer belonging to the hit man service called Red assassins. Shit. Of all the groups to end up with . . .

The sleeping man in the chair stirred.

Sakura froze (which, thinking back on it, was a highly ineffective thing to do).

He sat up slightly. His eyes blinked open. He rubbed them. He glanced over at Sakura. He glanced over at Sakura again. He stared. She stared back. They stared at each other for five minutes. She squeaked out, "Hi."

"Um," said he.

"Um, uh, how's it going?" Sakura couldn't believe the words spilling out of her mouth.

"Fine."

"My name's, uh, Alice."

"I don't remember my name."

"I'm sorry."

"Hn."

"Um."

" . . ."

"Do I know you?"

"No."

"Oh. I thought I recognized you."

"Hm."

". . . Yeah . . ."

"Seriously. You remind me of someone I know. I just can't remember and it's really bothering me."

"Okay."

"What are you doing here?"

"Reading."

"Oh. Duh, I guess. I'm reading too."

"I see."

"What are you reading?"

"A book."

". . . Oh. What's the title?"

He lifted up the book. The title was 'Kingdoms in Wonderland'.

"Sounds, um, interesting," Sakura lied. She had never been one for history.

"Hn." He looked back down at the book and started reading. Sakura suddenly felt even more awkward.

"Can I name you?" she asked.

He looked startled. "What?"

"Can I name you?" Sakura repeated, feeling a blush steal across her face. "I mean, you don't have a name and I thought you should have one . . ."

"I do have a name," he said. "I just don't remember it."

"Do you want a new one?"

He debated this for a few moments before shrugging and saying, "Sure."

"Okay." Sakura took another random book off a shelf and opened it up. The names of several people important to Wonderland were written on the page. "Um, how about . . . Anton?"

"Okay."

"Okay? You sure you like it?"

"I don't care." The newly appointed Anton focused his attention on his book again. Sakura suddenly felt like a protective mother. "Do you need anything?" she asked anxiously (and stupidly).

He looked up at her and lifted an eyebrow. "No."

"Um, good, I guess . . ."

Suddenly, she heard a loud banging and figured out that the door was being opened. "Your majesty?" someone called.

"Goodbye," Anton said, getting up.

"What?" Sakura could hardly believe what was going on. "You're leaving? You're a majesty?"

He frowned slightly as two card soldiers came around the corner. "I'm the Queen of Hearts," he said, like she should know that.

Sakura's mouth dropped. "Wha- What?"

"You should be more respectful," a soldier said severely.

"Goodbye," the Queen of Hearts said again, and rounded the corner, disappearing from view with his guards.

And Sakura watched Sasuke Uchiha leave, the blood roaring in her ears, her entire body frozen with the shock.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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009:

((_cry with the disgusting despair_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

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Shit.

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.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Naruto couldn't be bothered to care for anything much anymore. In his charge he had three things; making sure the Queen of Hearts didn't do anything stupid while Ino wasn't there to take care of him, making sure the Duchess herself didn't do anything stupid, and waiting semi-patiently for those who killed Itachi so he could kill them right back. He did these things with a melancholy quite unlike him. Naruto Uzumaki's smile was gone and it wouldn't return until revenge was had. Ino noticed and was worried about him, but any attempt to talk with Naruto was fruitless. So she left him alone with a sad glance over her shoulder.

The Queen, who was telling everyone his name was Anton, noticed something too, but was too locked up in his whirlwind of insanity to take action. Neither Naruto nor "Anton" cared much for the other to begin with. Naruto typically left him alone as long as a few guards stayed with, um, Anton to make sure he didn't get assassinated by his unhappy subjects. Naruto knew that Anton went to an abandoned library for hours at a time and he was okay with it. He himself had been busy lately enforcing Anton's latest set of restrictions. Naruto wondered what Ino was playing at, making him order those things. He supposed she intended on keeping the citizens depressed and hungry, which was probably a winning situation for the Explosives.

He was currently sitting in his rather spacious quarters, a set of rooms that used to belong to a prince. That prince had been beheaded a few days ago.

Naruto cleaned the blood off of his short sword methodically, staring out the window at the expansive, but ruined, city of Hearts. He had just gotten back from the church of the peach, where he'd told the unfortunate citizens staying there that they couldn't do that. He'd fired on them uncaringly, for it was part of his job to kill. But there had been that one woman with dark, long hair that reminded him so much of Hinata. He'd shot her so many times so that her hair was matted with blood and he could no longer see the resemblance. Worse still, he'd thought he'd caught a glimpse of the Outlander, Sakura, who he'd confused and duped to the point where he felt bad. He'd chased after her, but couldn't find her. He hadn't told Ino that he suspected Sakura was within the city of Hearts, for fear of her abandoning the skirmish towards the south of the city to come back and go on a manhunt for the Outlander.

And then there was Gaara. He had taken a leave of absence almost immediately after he'd come back to Hearts castle and Naruto hadn't seen or heard from him since. Naruto wasn't really irritated, but curious to what the March Hare was up to.

((_If only he knew, right?_))

His musings were interrupted when the door to his chambers swung open, revealing the Queen of Hearts himself. "_You should knock_," Naruto said blandly.

The Queen didn't respond. He strode across the room, his guards following behind and sat down in a chair opposite Naruto. "_What do you want?_" Naruto asked with the same blandness.

The Queen looked like a train wreck, but the makeup and the clothes were doing a good job of hiding it. He didn't answer Naruto yet again, instead choosing to take Naruto's short sword right out of his hands.

"_Hey!_" Naruto exclaimed, some emotion coming back into his tone. "_Give that back!_"

The Queen looked at him, his dark eyes completely blank. "_You took something from me, too,_" he said tonelessly.

Naruto frowned at him. What was the idiot talking about? Naruto didn't believe he'd stolen something from the Queen- Ino would have his head if he did. "_What are you talking about?_" he asked, reaching for his sword. Anton pulled it away. Naruto scowled.

The Queen struggled with an anger Naruto hadn't ever seen on him. "_I can't remember!_" Anton nearly hissed. "_I can't remember anything! I can only remember slivers of her, not even her name like I don't know mine! It's your fault! You made it so!_"

A small smile broke out on Naruto's face.

So this was what was going on.

Outlanders under the control of Explosives didn't usually act like this. Suppressed memories were hardly uncommon, but an Outlander acting on them was surprising. Naruto leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh. Of course this was happening. He could feel the chaos that would stem from it overwhelming him. It'd be perfect if only the chaos wasn't happening to him.

He looked directly at one of the guards standing behind Anton. "_Did he encounter someone in the library?_" Naruto inquired, like it was inconsequential information.

"_Yes,_" the guard answered, his voice a monotone. "_A young woman with pink hair._"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "_And you didn't think to tell me about that?_"

The guard opened his mouth to apologize, but Anton cut him off with a sharp, "_Leave them alone_."

That was quite unexpected as well.

It seemed that Sakura was quite literally getting inside the head of her ex-boyfriend. Sasuke Uchiha was acting out, which shouldn't happen at all with Ino's control over him. Cracks were appearing through the shell of the Queen of Hearts, revealing the person that the Queen once was, a person that he couldn't remember, a person who contained the truth. The truth that he was being used to win a war for the evil guys. The truth that Ino didn't love him.

The truth that Naruto and Ino would kill him as soon as they didn't need him anymore.

Naruto had planned it all out in his head. Sasuke would be beheaded. Ino would relinquish her control of him just as the ax was falling and the Queen of Hearts would drip away, letting Sasuke remember who he was and realize with despair that he had been used. And he would cry as the ax fell, cry with the disgusting despair that Naruto was feeling.

It would be glorious.

But right now it was merely a fantasy. Anton was just an instrument upon which Naruto poured all of his pain; he wanted Anton to suffer because he didn't want to be the only one suffering. And the chaos in Sasuke before he died would leave Naruto happy for weeks.

Anton was glaring at Naruto fiercely, chips of Sasuke Uchiha showing through. "_It isn't my fault, your majesty,_" Naruto said slowly, making sure every word sunk into Anton.

"_Then whose fault is it?_" Anton asked viciously.

Naruto let out a small smile again, gazing up at the ceiling. It was painted over with clouds and peaches with wings. Lovely. "_It's the fault of Ino,_" he said.

"_My Duchess?_" Anton was shocked, his eyes wide, at the thought of his darling Duchess making him forget his life. Naruto loved the turmoil he could sense in the Queen.

Suddenly, it disappeared. "_She did it so we could love each other better without my past life getting in the way,_" the Queen proclaimed childishly, evidently satisfied with that conclusion. Naruto rolled his eyes at the winged peaches above him. Anton thinking that would be beneficial for him and Ino, the Hatter supposed. It would certainly make Sasuke stop trying to piece back together his old life.

When Naruto looked back at Anton, his short sword was thrust at him awkwardly. Naruto accepted it with a nod. Anton got up and swept out of the room without so much as a backward glance, his guards trailing after. As the door slammed shut Naruto let out another smile, a real smile this time. For the cracks had been sealed up and Sasuke Uchiha was repressed.

Only the Queen of Hearts remained.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura had spent the night sitting in the chair Sasuke had been sleeping in, alternating between sleeping and waking up to cry. She couldn't believe that she hadn't been able to match Sasuke with the ornately dressed, sad man right in front of her face. If only she hadn't been so stupid! She could've grabbed Sasuke had gotten the hell out of the city of Hearts and maybe be home right now.

Instead she had to break into the castle of Hearts to get him back.

And she had to put a finger in a desk.

Ugh.

And Gaara. Freaking Gaara.

Sakura irritably got out of the chair when she woke up for the sixth time. Sunlight poured through the dusty windows of the library. She grumpily ran a hand through her hair, wishing for a comb. Her eyes landed on a note lying innocently on the table next to the chair.

A note. A freaking _note_. Dammit, someone had been here when she was sleeping long enough to write her a fucking note.

She didn't really feel like touching it, and so read it standing over the table:

_Five days start now!_

Fuck. Fuck, shit, crap, damn, _shit_. So the Ten really was intent on making sure she put the stupid finger in the stupid desk. Dammit. How the _hell_ was she supposed to do that?

Sakura pulled out her gun and considered putting a few rounds through a bookcase, but decided to conserve her bullets. So she knocked it over instead.

It fell to the floor with a satisfying, and extremely loud, crash. It occurred to Sakura that someone outside might have heard, but she didn't really care at the moment. Dammit, dammit, dammit. She wished she had her buddies with her. They'd know what to do and Sakura and them would enact a fabulous plan, grab Sasuke and hightail their butts out of this non-wonderland and head back home. And life would be lovely. But, _no_, whatever deity that existed just _had _to go and screw her over.

But it was high time, she thought, she stopped complaining and do something. She was hungry and needed to search for food. The only meal option seemed to be fresh human corpse, since she didn't think very many restaurants would be open what with the whole blockade thing.

So, first she'd look for food, and then she'd figure out how she was going to get a finger inside the desk of one Asuma Sarutobi. She hoped Sasuke wasn't planning on traveling his new country any time soon.

Sakura sighed and set out to leave, but then, as they had been doing lately, her eyes snagged on a brown bag sitting against the chair. She grabbed it eagerly. It was most likely Sasuke's, considering how the side it said 'Property of the Queen of Hearts'. She opened it up. Within it was a black handgun, some ammo for it, a black jacket, a few packs of unopened pretzels, a water bottle, and a small novel. She couldn't believe her luck. It looked like Sasuke had packed for an extended trip to the library, but it was going to prove highly useful for Sakura. An extra gun, and food and water besides! Sakura lifted the bag over her shoulder after taking out a bag of pretzels and popping some into her mouth. Delicious. What a nutritious breakfast.

Taking a sip of the water bottle before throwing it back into the bag, Sakura prepared to leave the library. She wanted to walk around a bit and get a better feel for the city before she did anything major. Life would suck even worse if she got lost in the city with the finger and its accompanying note.

Speaking of fingers . . . She could probably get one very easily from one of the corpses lining the streets. But she didn't have a knife, and Sakura didn't fancy the idea of trying to rip off a finger with her bare hands. She reasoned that she could probably find a knife somewhere.

Sakura was just about to leave when she decided to pull out Sasuke's gun and attached it to her holster. She didn't know how many rounds were left in the rainbow one and didn't want to take the chance of running out in the middle of a fight.

That done, she walked out of the library and walked straight into Kakashi Hatake.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

_They say I can't hide anymore_

_But in the end, I'll 'round that bend_

_And shut away the door_

.

.

**Afternotes1: I'm apologizing here for any inconsistencies you may have noticed in the story. Although I now have mostly everything planned out, in the beginning of the story I was changing the plot around a lot and adding some things, so there's some stuff that I noticed doesn't quite correspond with some other parts of the story. Again, I'm sorry.**

**Afternotes2: Does anybody actually read my notes?**


	10. 010: Problems

**explosive**

**Author's note1: The last chapter was boring, wasn't it? This one is more action-y at the end. **

**If you care: I'm in love with Lady Gaga's new one 'You and I'. I've been listening to it over and over and over . . .**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

explosive.

_Hang on tight, kiddos, for the Wonderland ride_

'_Cause even though there was a hello_

_There sure as hell won't be a goodbye_

explosive.

_So it begins again_

_((falling, tumbling, spiraling, whirling))_

_With lots of lies and a few goodbyes,_

_Off we go into the lion's den_

_((let the games begin))_

explosive.

_It's bursting at the seams_

_Seeing with my own eyes I can realize_

_I've been bruised; I've been used_

_I wish it was all a dream_

_I think I want to fall away_

_I'm really not having a good day_

explosive.

_They say I can't hide away anymore_

_But in the end ((SCREAMING)) I'll round that bend_

_And shut away the door ((HEAR ME?))_

explosive.

_To Sakura, what's going to happen now?_

_. . . tell the Explosives to take a bow . . ._

Explosive.

I realize there's so much I can do. Solely off of intuition I can bring my goal to fruition.

That being I'm not leaving without you.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Reconnaissance.

The word had always been one of Hinata's favorite ones; however, she'd never found an opportunity to actually use the word. She looked up synonyms and this is what she had gotten: _investigation, survey, scouting, exploration, inspection_. She was very happy when Shikamaru told her yesterday morning that they were going to _investigate_ the abduction of Alice, _scout _the grassland around Old Tortellini Ville and _inspect_ inside. The _Reconnaissance_ of Alice, Hinata liked to think of it as.

It was rather lame of her to be happy that the disappearance of her friend allowed her to use her favorite word, but living in a world that was very anti-happy made Hinata appreciate what she could get. However, she was finding that her happiness was dripping away as absolutely nobody could find Alice.

Since Alice was part of the Red assassins group, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Neji had assumed that she had been taken by them to complete some contract that Alice must have been avoiding. They were searching around the area for a Red hideout, but couldn't find one. All three of them were becoming increasingly frustrated. The war wasn't going to win itself, and they needed to get Alice back if they wanted a prayer of getting into Hearts castle and grabbing the Outlander. Alice was the one who was so insistent on getting him back, too, Hinata remembered. She had been the one to initially propose that the Explosives were using the Outlander as a super soldier, and that they should try to steal him away from the Explosives. It had been a genius idea for sure.

Kakashi, the Knave, had offered to help search for Alice, because he "simply had nothing to do". The three of them trusted Kakashi and weren't willing to turn away a helping hand, and so sent Kakashi off to explore the area a few miles away from Old Tortellini Ville. Hinata had a nagging suspicion that Kakashi went to the city of Hearts.

For now, it was just her and Neji. Shikamaru had gone to the local court system to try and drop the charges of murder against them. The Hearts court system was a funny thing in being that Shikamaru could probably just get them to drop charges by merely saying that he didn't do anything a few times.

Hinata walked through the grassland, her feet hardly making a sound in the drizzling rain coming down from the heavens. It was morning, and a fog had settled over the area, giving it an almost eerie look. Hinata wasn't very superstitious, but she couldn't help feeling a little creeped out.

"No one's out here, Hinata," came the voice of her cousin a few feet from behind her. They had searched this area before, but Hinata was being thorough; she didn't want to miss anything.

But at this point, she had to conclude that the grasslands were holding nothing of Alice's whereabouts.

"Why don't we try searching deeper into the forest?" Neji suggested. They had searched the fringes of it yesterday, but nobody had been willing to go any further, so sick of the mass of green foliage they had been in for days. Hinata let out a miniscule sigh and thought they would just have to get over their aversion. "Okay," she said to Neji, and they turned around, heading for the forest of Hearts.

It took them less than an hour to reach it and along the way they encountered no one, which wasn't too surprising. Most of Hearts country's cities had been sacked and small towns razed. Anybody who was still alive would be seeking shelter with the Army or huddling in their village and praying that the Explosives didn't come. Believe it or not, the city of Hearts was in the best shape out of all of them, and many people flocked to it, hoping to get into the already overcrowded city to plea desperately with the new Queen of Hearts. Hinata had heard he had taken on a new name; Queen Anton the First. She wondered if Alice knew, since the Queen seemed to be so important to her. She wondered if "Anton" had any clue that he once was a real person.

"Hinata, are you alright?"

It appeared in her musings that she had fallen behind Neji and that she was frowning without realizing. "I'm fine, Neji," she said, her voice carrying over the empty plains.

He studied her for a moment, and then seemed to decide that he didn't want to press further. Hinata appreciated it.

The forest of Hearts loomed out in front of them, seeming all the more ominous with the fog settled in. Hinata made sure her gun was loose in its holster, and then set into the forest with her cousin right beside her.

Everything was silent; disturbingly so. Hinata stuck close to Neji without even realizing she was doing so, but he didn't complain or shove her off. Neji seemed to be perturbed by the silence as well.

"Which way are we going?" Neji asked her in a low whisper, as if he was afraid of disturbing the forest.

"Whichever way we didn't go yesterday," Hinata answered; she didn't much have a preference.

Neji shrugged and took off in an easterly direction.

They walked on as silent as the forest was, neither of them feeling any need to talk. They weren't chatty people to begin with. Eventually, however, Hinata began to feel discomfited with the forest and felt the need to talk to distract her from her discomfort. "Do you think Shikamaru will be back today?" she asked of her cousin. Hinata wasn't romantically interested in Shikamaru, but the three of them had been together for so long that she felt a little anxious when one of them were gone. It occurred to her that was probably how Naruto, Ino, and Itachi felt about each other.

Ugh. Disgusting. Was she really relating herself to the Explosives? They were nothing alike; Explosives were _barbarians_. Cheating, lying barbarians-

"No. Probably tomorrow," Neji answered her in his quiet monotone. Hinata nodded, thinking that he was most likely right.

Hinata puffed out her cheeks in boredom, and then let out all the air, looking up towards the sky as she did so.

"Neji!"

"What?" Her cousin turned to look at her, a frown marring his features. Hinata pointed up towards the sky. Neji looked up and blinked.

A patch of metal hanging over the trees.

Neji and Hinata turned to each other, speaking very fast.

"Do you think-"

"Probably-"

"They do live in skyscrapers, don't they?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon, let's go in!" With that, Hinata sprinted out ahead of the Caterpillar. "Wait, Hinata!" Neji called, and she slowed, her impatience to get to the skyscraper making her bounce up and down. "We don't know if they're friendly or not," Neji said.

"They're the Red assassins," Hinata said. "Of course they're not friendly. But Hearts isn't an enemy right now to them, so we should be able to get in."

Neji rolled his eyes, and said, "Okay, but have your gun ready."

Hinata nodded and the two of them ran out to the skyscraper.

They arrived to find it in smoking ruins; at least, the entry grounds were.

"Um," Hinata said.

Neji stepped forward tentatively. "What happened here?" he muttered to himself.

"Hello?" Hinata called out loudly.

"Hinata!" Neji said, looking ready to reprimand her.

"What?" she said. "Don't you want to know if there's any people still around?"

"There are still people around, thank you very much." Hinata and Neji whipped around to find the Red Queen Karin herself emerging from the trees. By her style of dress and the blood covering them, Hinata supposed that she had just gotten back from hunting- hunting humans. "We just haven't gotten around to putting out the fire," Karin explained.

Hinata and Neji didn't question this; they were, after all, Wonderlanders, and that sounded perfectly normal to them. "Your majesty," Neji said, although he didn't bow and he wasn't exactly sure if Karin was a real queen. "I am Neji Hyuga, the Caterpillar, and-"

"Hinata Hyuga, the White Rabbit," Hinata piped up, wanting to introduce herself.

"How nice," Karin said blandly. "A friend of yours who's also a friend of mine stopped here a few days ago. Then she ran out and caused all of this mess. I'm not exactly sure why."

"Alice?" Hinata said hopefully.

Karin nodded. "Yes, Alice. She ran out of here like she didn't know she was part of us or something. Quite baffling, really."

"What did you tell her?" Hinata asked carefully.

"Nothing quite unusual," Karin said. "Kill this man or we'll kill someone who means a lot to you. You know. That sort of thing. She should be used to that by now."

If only they could see past the fog.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

010:

((_well, it looks like we have a little problem_))

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

.

Things are getting just slightly crazy.

.

.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"What are you doing here?"

"You know, Sakura, I could really ask you the same thing." Kakashi adjusted the cowboy hat on his head, face mask obscuring any expressions. "Actually, I could ask you a lot of things. Have you, by any chance, taken on a new name?"

"No," Sakura responded, combing a hand through her pink hair. Her fingers got stuck. "But people keep calling me Alice anyways."

"Ah. I see." Kakashi gestured at the library. "Why don't we sit down inside so we can have a little chat?"

"Okay." Sakura walked back inside the abandoned library with Kakashi and took a seat at a table with two chairs in it. "Interesting choice of color shirt, Sakura," Kakashi said as she attempted to pull her hand out from her hair. "Are you a fan girl for the Red assassins?"

"No," Sakura said tartly, finally pulling her hand out from her hair. A good chunk of pink hair went with it. "Kakashi, do you know what an 'Alice' is?"

"Well, of course I do," the Knave answered. "I wouldn't be very good Wonderlander if I didn't, now would I?"

Sakura chose to think of that question as rhetorical and said, "Well, I think I'm an Alice. When I was taken from you guys by the Red assassins, they acted like I was one of them and gave me a contract." She swallowed, not wanting to go on.

"Hey, backtrack," Kakashi said. "The Red assassins took you?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged. "I'm not surprised. What did they want from you?"

"Well . . ." Sakura's throat felt dry. She swallowed again. "Well, they said that I had to kill you or they would kill Sasuke."

Kakashi lifted his only visible eyebrow. "Really? How tacky and completely insulting of them. But no matter. That can be fixed. Unless of course, you wish for me or Sasuke to die?"

"No!" Sakura nearly yelled, shocked that that would even cross his mind.

"Well, lovely, that makes me feel so special," Kakashi said, and Sakura decided to ignore any sarcasm she detected in his tone. "How am I going to fix that?" she asked.

"I'll figure something out," Kakashi said cheerfully. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it. But while I'm thinking about that, how on earth did you get past the card soldiers?"

The exasperation Sakura had been feeling with Kakashi's last comments faded away when the memories of how she'd managed to get into the city rose up. She sighed. Just another problem on her plate (which, she hoped, was a giant silver plate made in Venice, because that would make her day a _little_ better.) "I made a deal," she said glumly.

"A deal?"

Kakashi seemed morbidly curious, Sakura noted, as he was leaning forward with a strange glint in his eye "Well," Sakura said, feeling suddenly stupid for agreeing to this deal. "The Ten of Hearts agreed to let me in if I put a finger inside the desk of a man he doesn't like."

"Oh, my," Kakashi said, his tone still pleasant. "Well, it looks like we have a little problem."

A little one? Last time Sakura checked, this was a Big Ass Problem. "I have to get it done in five days, including today," she said in a rush. "He wants me to put the finger in the desk of a man named Asuma Sarutobi, and I have to leave a note that says 'hearts, hearts, Asuma'."

"The Ten isn't very creative, is he?" Kakashi said dryly, mostly to himself. "He stole that from a novel that was circling around a few years back."

"Lovely." Sakura didn't quite care about that at the moment.

"The novel described in length how to break into a castle," Kakashi continued. "It was banned by the old Queen because of that. But I read it before it was banned."

Sakura suddenly thought she knew where this was going.

"Do you know what that means, Sakura?" Kakashi said, and she thought she could detect a smile underneath that mask. "It means that I know how to get _in_."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

I'm thinking of joining the mile high club at seven thousand feet.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

In a city, the fact that things were completely silent when it was only midnight would be quite disturbing to some. But considering how this was the city of Hearts, where everybody who had been outspoken was dead, the silence was not all that unusual.

Some people creeping around in the shadows weren't all that unusual, either. Most people who had to be out at night stuck to the shadows, fearful of the lawlessness that had invaded the city. Those who walked around brazenly at nighttime were liable to get robbed, or even killed.

However, once one looked closely at the two sulking around Hearts city, one would see the weapons hanging off their belts, their grim, businesslike faces, and the black, noiseless clothing they wore.

_That_ was unusual.

After spending the rest of the daylight hours planning and getting what they needed, Sakura and Kakashi were ready to launch what she was calling Operation Put The Finger In The Desk So I Do Not Get Killed, OPTFITDSIDNGK, for short. Kakashi called it Operation Sakura's Names Are Too Long.

It was a simple plan, really, because complex plans had a tendency to get fucked over. At least, that was what the main character in the book said, Kakashi had told her.

Sakura's nerves felt like they were on fire and even the most benign noises made her want to pull out her gun and start shooting. If they got caught, they would be thrown in jail or executed. If they got caught, Kakashi had told her with a carefree smile to run like hell and let him get captured. That way, he said, you'd be able to solve your other problem as well!

That did not sit well with Sakura.

Finally, they were at Hearts castle. The bridge had been drawn up for the night and she could see guards crawling over the top of the castle walls. She thought of how somewhere within the castle Sasuke was sleeping away peacefully. She had wanted to plant the finger and grab Sasuke in one go, but Kakashi had shot her down, telling her that it was too risky. "The Queen of Hearts is heavily guarded, especially when he's resting," he had said. "Whereas the offices will be virtually unmonitored. If you want to get Sasuke and survive, you'll have to try it in the day time, when he's less guarded."

Sakura had agreed that that made sense, and hadn't pressed it further.

Still, even though she knew it would be suicide to try and nab Sasuke, something wasn't sitting right with her. Maybe it didn't directly have to do with Sasuke; maybe it was something about this whole operation. She was, after all, carrying around a finger taken off a corpse.

But back to the situation at hand. She couldn't afford to dwell over things any longer.

Trying to go through the castle from the front would be perfectly idiotic. It was swarming with guards, and they would shoot the two down before even asking their names.

In the book, the castle had been modeled off of Hearts castle, since the author had lived in Hearts city. (He didn't anymore; he had run off to White country after his book had been banned and the Queen ordered his beheading.) That was why using the book as a model for their plan was so effective; it revealed to them that the wall surrounded Hearts castle was in fact, incomplete.

Sakura had been expecting it, but couldn't help giggling slightly as they came across a huge section of missing wall. Laborers had been working on it all day, but they had laid down their hammers and whatnot and gone home for the night, leaving the section absolutely empty. It wasn't safe for too many people to be on the incomplete wall for extended periods of time, so only a few guards looked out from this part of the castle's backside.

Sakura and Kakashi crossed through the "wall" stealthily, careful not to make any noises or step on anything. Sakura's heart was pounding, and she was filled with a sort of fear she had never felt before; a cold dread of being caught. They got to the interior of the castle courtyards without incident and were now faced with a more difficult task; actually getting inside the castle of Hearts.

Again, going through the front entrances would be suicidal, but Kakashi and his book had another way- the kitchens. Kitchens like the one in the castle were required to have doors leading outside in the event of a fire. Furthermore, the kitchens were relatively far away from the main entrance to the castle, which led to the throne room.

(Sakura stored that piece of information away in her memory.)

The kitchen door was locked, but Kakashi was adept at picking locks. Sakura looked about anxiously for people coming as he picked the lock, but no one did. Of course, there was the risk of someone being inside the kitchens, her gun was loose in its holster and they didn't expect anyone to be there.

Sakura heard a click. "Gun out, Sakura," Kakashi said softly. "We're going in."

Sakura felt a thrill, and not entirely a good one, run down her spine when she entered the expansive kitchens, gun drawn. She pointed it this way and that as Kakashi came into the room, his own golden pistol out. "You stay here. I'll check around." he said. Sakura nodded, though she felt a little afraid for him.

A couple minutes later, Kakashi called out softly, "All clear, Sakura." and threw a bundle of clothing at her. It was her old outfit, the one with the Red assassins shirt. Kakashi her that it was extremely common for Red assassins to be in Hearts castle, since the Hearts monarchy commonly used the assassins for their dirty work, and that no one would question her. (_People probably would be too scared to question me anyways,_ Sakura thought with a smugness that surprised her.) He himself would be hiding in the shadows. "You won't be able to find me," he'd said.

Sakura changed quickly into her Red assassins outfit; it was dark, so Kakashi wouldn't be able to see anything. She didn't have any place to put her gun, and so hid a knife in one of the pockets. "Ready," she said when she was done. "Then let's go," came the answer. Kakashi was in business mode.

She had memorized the floor plan for the first floor of Hearts castle. The offices of lower ranked officials like Asuma Sarutobi were on the first floor, near the back end of the castle. If she walked at a good pace, it should only take a little under ten minutes.

She left the kitchens and made for Sarutobi's office, Kakashi melting into the shadows behind her.

She encountered only a few maids. The hallways were silent, almost eerily so, and the several portraits of stiff looking older men did nothing to ease her tension. Sakura felt like she was going to burst if she didn't get this over soon.

Despite that, she felt like she came to the office all too soon. Her palms felt sweaty; she didn't even know if she could turn the door handle.

Well, it was locked, but one gets the idea.

Kakashi appeared beside her, startling her slightly. "Let me," he said, and bent down to pick the lock.

He froze.

"What?" Sakura whispered.

The door to the office flung open, washing the both of them in harsh light. "See, I _told_ ya that the Red assassins trying ta kill us all," said the Ten of Hearts, looking down at Sakura and Kakashi contemptuously. Behind him stood several card soldiers with machine guns and a man who looked to be of higher rank than the rest. He had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. "Well, I guess you're right," he said, tone making it clear that he didn't exactly care.

Kakashi said, "I hate smoking."

Sakura said, "You bitch!"

And Kakashi dove, knocking over Sakura and just barely missing the barrage of bullets that suddenly came at them.

"Run! Run! Run!"

It was Kakashi, already getting up; he tossed her gun at her, and Sakura nearly dropped it. She responded to his orders almost mindlessly, turning and sprinting down the hallway as fast as she could.

She was so mad that she could hardly pay attention to where she was going. That _bastard_, that complete _bastard_. The T en had played her for a fool and she fell right for it. And now, she and Kakashi were probably going to die.

She could hear someone chasing after her, but knew it wasn't Kakashi when bullets sailed past her shoulder and crashed into the wall, sending chunks of it flying. Thinking quickly, she skidded around a corner and stopped, and when her chaser came whipping around she brought the handle of her gun smashing down on his face. She definitely broke his nose; she saw a lot of blood flying everywhere and some of it landed on her face. He fell onto the ground with a groan, and Sakura, not wanting to take any chances, shot him in the head.

Then she turned and ran.

She was halfway there when, as her luck would have it, two guards turned the corner. "Red assassin!" they cried, for they evidently thought she was fleeing a botched assassination. They drew their guns, submachineguns. Sakura shot at one guy's face; she missed and the bullet landed into his shoulder.

The other guy fired off his gun and Sakura wildly tried to dodge it. A bullet grazed her upper arm and she cried out, but did not allow herself to recoil. She took a shot at the unhurt guy, and in the close quarters, managed to get him clean between the eyes. However, the other one wasn't out yet, and he forwent his gun in favor of launching a punch at her, which caught her in her already injured arm. She hissed out in pain. He took another swing at her and Sakura dropped to the ground, scrambling around for a gun, any gun, and grabbed the other man's fallen submachinegun. She fired straight at his chest and he fell over. She fired in his head a few more times to be sure.

She recovered her handgun (which she could not remember dropping) and took the submachinegun with her as she once more sped off through Hearts castle. _Where's Gaara when you need him_? she thought miserably.

She could see the entrance to the kitchens when she saw someone she _so_ did not want to see right now standing by it.

Naruto.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a sleepy tone, staring at her as she came to an abrupt halt in front of him. "Um, um, um," she stammered.

He frowned at her. "I don't remember you wearing that shirt."

Sakura's adrenaline was pounding through her, her nerves were haywire, and blood was dripping from her arm. "How's Sasuke?" she asked crazily.

"Dandy," Naruto answered, tone quite congenial.

They stood there awkwardly. Should she shoot Naruto? She didn't want to; oh, she so did not want to. He didn't look like he had any weapons on him (but Sakura knew about his bottomless pockets). Should she shoot someone who was probably defenseless?

"Sakura, move!"

It was _Kakashi_.

All with him came several soldiers and the Ten, guns a-blazing. "What's going on?" asked Naruto.

And everyone stopped. They gazed at Naruto with respect.

And Sakura and Kakashi took the opportunity to get their asses out of there.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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_You're a coward hiding behind your power!_

_And I cannot say that I like you this way_

_Step away from the whirlwind and you'll see why you're so dour_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

'**I'm joining the mile high club at seven thousand feet.'- That's metaphor. A silly one, but a metaphor nonetheless. **


	11. 011: Of Bitches

**explosive**

**Author's note1: Believe it or not, explosive is almost done. :o I'm thinking probably four more chapters after this one.**

**If you care: I wish I could go into another world. Just not be kidnapped. Or forced to kill people. Or watch Itachi Uchiha die, because it's a shame when someone that beautiful kicks the bucket.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"_Sir? Shouldn't we chase after them?_"

"_. . . No. . ._"

"_But- but, why?_"

"_. . . Ino would be mad if I killed them without her_."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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011:

((_let's rock this bitch_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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The world looks different when it's covered in glitter.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura was huffing and puffing (but wasn't blowing any houses down) as she ran from Hearts castle, one hand clamped over the bullet wound in her upper arm. Kakashi ran beside her, urging her on. "Where can we stop?" she gasped out as they entered the city once more.

"Not here," he replied, seeming hardly out of breath. "We need to get out of the city."

"W-what?" Sakura exclaimed. "We won't be able to get in again!"

"I have my way of getting in," Kakashi replied as they navigated the darkened alleyways. "Besides, won't we be storming the castle and getting inside to retrieve Sasuke?"

"Don't talk about him like he's inconsequential," Sakura huffed.

"Nice vocabulary," Kakashi said. "He's very consequential to you, isn't he?"

"I guess . . ." Sakura thought about it. Of course she cared about Sasuke. Why else would she be desperately trying to rescue him?

Wait. Kakashi had asked her if Sasuke was important to her. And she said yes. The bastard.

"How are we getting out?" she asked the Knave, changing subjects.

"Front gate!" he said cheerfully. "No one expects you to go through the front gate."

". . . Are you shitting me?"

"Sakura, what would I gain from pooping on you? Think rationally."

"I could say the same to you!"

"No you couldn't. I'm a Wonderlander, therefore I am perfectly rational. You're the mad one."

"Okay, Kakashi."

They came to the front gate. The bridge was drawn, naturally, and guards swarmed in front of it.

"Kill me. Kill me now."

"Sakura, please, again with the irrationality. Why would I kill you when I just risked my life to save you?"

"_Save _me?"

"That's what I did, right? Back when you were trapped with Naruto?"

"I was _not _trapped."

"Can we continue this later? I've got some guards to destroy. You just sit out, since your left arm is wounded."

Sakura clutched at her wound. "I can still shoot. They didn't get my gun arm," she said.

Kakashi pulled out his gun. "Okay, then you go and turn that fancy lever over there." He pointed to the 'fancy lever' by the drawn bridge. It was indeed fancy. It had been decorated with jewels and ribbons. Sakura gave up on sanity.

"Ready? Good! Start running when I distract them!" Kakashi ran out into the clearing, gun drawn, yelling in Korean.

The guards turned towards Kakashi and decided he was insane, collectively laughing. Sakura noticed as she sprinted out behind them that each was exactly the same; hair, height, you name it. It was quite disturbing.

She stopped at the fancy lever, and tugged on it hard, trying to turn it. The bridge groaned and lowered some. She bit her lip and tugged some more. Suddenly, every single one of the guards turned at the exact same time and said at the exact same time, "Hey! She's turning the gate!" Then Kakashi switched to Spanish and they turned back to him, laughing once more. If Sakura wasn't in a hurry, she might've stopped and stared, open-mouthed.

She lowered the bridge all the way. The people camped out behind it jumped in surprise and joy, yelling, "Hey, we can get in!" They began to stream into the city, trampling the guards. Sakura jumped out of the way to avoid being stomped on. "Thank the Queen!" somebody yelled as they charged into the city. Sakura wondered with a sinking feeling if they would all be killed.

Kakashi pushed through the crowd, saying to her, "Sakura, your blood is dripping onto your shirt!"

"It's red already!" she snapped, and clamped a hand down on the wound once more. Her adrenaline was disappearing and she was finding that the wound hurt very much.

She and Kakashi pushed through the crowd, trying to get outside the city. "Was this why you wanted to go through the front gate?" she yelled at Kakashi over the noises of the crowd of moving people. He merely smiled underneath his mask.

They made it out onto the grassland, which was now practically deserted. The only person there was the guard who Sakura had encountered before, saying to no one, "On and off, for days and days," over and over again. "He's an odd one, don't you think?" Kakashi said, jerking a thumb at him.

Sakura nodded, but her mind was full of questions. "Where did you learn Spanish and Korean? Where are we going? Where are-"

"Slow down, partner," Kakashi interrupted, holding his hands out in front of him. He stopped in the middle of the field, the brightness and noises from the city of Hearts washing over them. "We're going back to Old Tortellini Ville because that's where Neji, Shikamaru, and Hinata are. And I learned those languages from teachers."

Sakura frowned. "That's not what I meant."

"Well, that's what I meant," Kakashi said, striding forward. "And you should say what you mean. That's what the last Mad Hatter used to say. And he meant it."

Sakura had no comment.

It was still the middle of the night, and the further away they got from the city of Hearts, the darker it got. "Um, are there animals and stuff out?" she asked, a little nervous.

"They are certainly animals, but I have no idea what you mean by stuff."

Sakura decided that conversing with Kakashi was just too difficult.

She remembered that Old Tortellini Ville was just a few hours from Hearts castle, thankfully. It was still nighttime when she and Kakashi reached the town, like it had been when she first entered it. She started walking up to it more stealthily, until Kakashi asked her with an amused tone, "What are you doing?"

"We're wanted criminals here!" Sakura whispered. "We can't just waltz up there!"

"Yes, dancing to the gate would be quite silly," Kakashi said and Sakura resisted the urge to smack him. "But we're not criminals anymore, Sakura; Shikamaru took them to court and won, I think."

". . . You think."

"Yes, I do think. Most people can."

_I am going to _kill _Sasuke for getting me into this mess_, Sakura thought, because everything was Sasuke's fault.

Since Old Tortellini Ville was a master in security, there was no gate, only a fence about one foot tall surrounding the town. As Sakura and Kakashi crossed over the fence, a man who must've been on watch greeted them with a howdy and a tip of his hat. "Howdy," Kakashi said back, tipping his own cowboy hat. Sakura suddenly wished she had one.

"Where are the others?" she asked Kakashi, eyes darting around as she expected someone to try and arrest them at any moment. Nobody did, probably because nobody was out.

"In Chouza's inn," he said, and then frowned. "In Chouza's inn. In inn."

"C'mon, let's go," Sakura said, grabbing Kakashi and pulling him in the direction she thought the inn was in. Inn was in. Wow. It did sound weird.

She identified the place by the loud noises coming from the inside. Looked the place was exactly the same as she had left it.

. . . Well, it had only been about three days, but whatever.

Sakura swung the door open. Nobody paid attention to her. Everyone was busy taking part in a typical bar scene; loud talking and laughing, the occasional fist fight or gun fight. Her eyes swept across the room, searching for a glimpse of her friends, but couldn't find any. "Where are they?" she asked Kakashi.

He shrugged. "Probably in their rooms. C'mon, let's go upstairs."

Sakura followed him upstairs and quickly located the room she and Hinata had been staying in. She stopped and knocked on the door, barely explaining herself to Kakashi. The door creaked open the slightest amount to reveal a silver eye.

"Hinata?" Sakura said.

The door was flung open and the White Rabbit beamed at her, pulling Sakura in for a quick hug. "What are you doing here?" she asked Sakura, seeming pleasantly surprised.

Sakura shrugged. "Well, I wanted to see you guys, I guess."

Hinata flashed another smile, and then looked towards Kakashi, giving him a quick nod. He nodded back. Hinata walked over to the room right next to hers and knocked on the door. "Neji, Shikamaru, wake up!" she said.

The door was opened a few moments later to reveal a sleepy Dormouse. "Hinata, what- Hey!" he exclaimed upon seeing Sakura. Then his eyes noticed her arm. "Alice, you're hurt!"

Sakura nodded, all of a sudden feeling a bit woozy. Wait. Did he just call her Alice?

She was ushered into Shikamaru's room and sat down on his bed. Neji was sitting up in the one opposite her, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. (He looked positively adorable.) "Hello," he said to her. "Hello," she said back.

"Tell us everything," Hinata said. "How did you get back here?" Then her eyes drifted down to Sakura's arm. "Well, maybe after we get that bandaged up."

"That would be helpful," Sakura said.

Shikamaru pulled out some bandages from his pack and a small blue bottle. He poured a little bit of the contents of the bottle on Sakura's wound, which made her hiss in pain. "Disinfectant," he explained, and then tightly wrapped the wound in bandages. (He had torn off the sleeve of Sakura's shirt.)

Sakura gingerly poked it, but decided that wasn't a good idea. "How long will it take to heal?" she asked, thinking that she didn't have any time to waste by recovering.

Shikamaru shrugged. "If you say a few prayers, maybe just a couple days."

" . . . Um, okay."

Sakura said a few prayers in her head. (As in, she thought 'a few prayers'. Leave her alone. She's tired. She had a rough day.)

"If you all don't mind, I'm going to retire," Kakashi said, poking his head in the door. "Sakura can explain things for me." His head disappeared and the door was closed.

"Stupid Kakashi," Hinata muttered. "He always disappears."

"I heard that," the Knave called from the other side of the door.

Hinata rolled her eyes.

"So, how did you get back here, Alice?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura sighed. "Long story. I woke up in the Red assassins hideout. . ."

And she told them everything. Escaping. Seeing Gaara. Going into the city of Hearts. Finding out that she was an Alice. (They were surprised, but had suspected that something was wrong with their memories.) Meeting Sasuke and Kakashi. The Finger. Escaping the city of Hearts. When she was done talking her throat felt dry and Hinata passed her a canteen of water. Sakura took a long sip, saying, "I need to take care of that whole Red assassins thing. Do you think explaining to them that I'm an Alice would work?"

"No," Neji said. "I think you should use that to your advantage."

"How so?" Sakura said, frowning (and stifling a yawn).

Shikamaru and Hinata seemed to understand why perfectly well. "From our memories of you, you're actually friends with Karin," Hinata said. "You've been together practically since birth."

Sakura could see where they were going. "Oh!" she gasped.

Then promptly fell asleep.

Shikamaru shook his head. "I bet you anything Kakashi didn't let her sleep on the way here."

"Hey! I can still hear you!"

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

The entrance to the massive skyscraper that was home to the Red assassins was still in ruins, but unlike when Hinata and Neji visited, workers were out taking care of it, hauling away rubbish and figuring out how to rebuild it. Sakura fingered her gun in her holster nervously. Despite the insistence of her friends that she wouldn't get harmed or asked any questions, she was still apprehensive. Most people felt that way when revisiting a place where they had killed several people.

After a good night's sleep, Sakura had been reunited with her pack and was able to take a much needed shower. (Indoor plumbing in a place that didn't have cars?) She had changed into one of the clean pairs of clothes she had packed, a simple green tunic that was comfortable and easy to move in. She had also replaced Sasuke's gun with the one she had first gotten, which Shikamaru had said was the better of the three handguns. The submachinegun sat on the other side of her holster, more for intimidation than anything else because she wasn't exactly sure how to use it.

Her arm was healing up quite nicely due to her prayers, but it still hurt to move it. Luckily it wasn't her dominant arm. Her shooting was entirely unaffected, and Neji had even complimented her on it.

Shikamaru stood a little ways in front of the group, talking to a man who was standing guard and explaining why they were there. Kakashi had not come, saying he'd rather not take chances, since Sakura was supposed to kill him and the Queen might see fit to just do it herself. The rest of them had agreed with that sentiment. Neji and Hinata were off doing another favor for Sakura. They were traveling fast, but wouldn't be back until nighttime.

Sakura had asked her companions to refer to her by her real name, but for the time being they were going to call her Alice, since they didn't want to make the Red Queen suspicious. Sakura actually liked the name Alice, but since she wasn't planning on becoming a permanent resident of Wonderland she figured she'd better stick with her Earth name.

Shikamaru motioned at her. "We can go in," he said, and she strode forward to enter the towering skyscraper.

Inside it was just as Sakura remembered; glass everywhere, and disturbing, never-ending crowds of walking people. A man led them through the complex, not talking to them. In fact, nobody talked and the place was utterly silent, even with all the people crowded in.

They were led to a different place than Sakura had been taken to to see Karin; she figured, with a slight wince, that that room was in ruins.

This room had no throne, only a table set with ten or so chairs. The Red Queen Karin was sitting in one, and popped up as soon as Sakura entered. "Alice!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here? After that last freak out I didn't expect to see you for a month."

"I needed to talk to you, Karin," Sakura said, trying to seem as congenial as possible.

"About what?" Karin nodded to Shikamaru, who nodded back.

"About- about Sasuke," Sakura shifted nervously.

"Oh, him?" Karin said rather carelessly. "He's been doing a rather odd job of running this country, hasn't he? That's why so many people wanted him dead, you see."

"Yeah, he's quite the unconventional ruler," Sakura said, recalling the slaughter in the church with a small shudder. "But, um, I don't really want him to die."

Karin lifted an eyebrow. The guards in the room placed a hand on their guns. "Why didn't you just say so?" Karin asked, and the guards relaxed. "Um, well I guess I was a little shocked," Sakura said, trying to seem as sheepish as possible.

"Yes, well, no matter," Karin said dismissively. "We can drop that mission."

"I don't want Kakashi to die either," Sakura said quickly.

"Him, too," Karin said, and Sakura let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

"Now what else is so important that you had to bring your little friend, too?" Karin asked, gesturing towards the Dormouse.

"Um, well, about Sasuke, there's a slight problem," Sakura began. "See, he's kinda not supposed to be Queen and I really want to get him off the throne. Without hurting him," she added immediately.

"Really?" asked Karin, her interest piqued. "You'll have to tell me the details later, Alice. So, what's my role in getting dearest Sasuke off the throne of Hearts?"

"He's in Hearts castle, duh," Sakura said, laughing a little nervously. "So we need more people if we want a chance of breaking through the castle and getting him back. Before we thought the four of us could sneak in easily but the security has increased a lot and so it would be much harder for us to get out alive."

"Oh, I see," Karin said. "You want the army?"

"Yes!" Sakura said breathlessly.

"Well, of course you can use it!" Karin said brightly. "Hell, I'll even join you!"

"Great!" Sakura said happily.

"May I ask where said army is?" Shikamaru said from the back.

"You may," Karin said.

There was a pause.

". . . Where's this army?"

"You know those people always walking around pointlessly?" Karin said. "They're my army. If I give the word, they'll immediately go into battle form.

"All of them?" Sakura asked, quite astonished.

"All of them," Karin acquiesced. "When is this storming of the castle?"

"Whenever you can get your army ready," Shikamaru said.

Karin shrugged. "These guys are quick. I can have them at Hearts castle by this evening."

Sakura had thought it would take much longer, and so let out a "Wow!" Karin smiled. "In fact, I can tell them to get ready now!" She let out a series of whistles. Suddenly, thumping and voices could be heard from outside the room. The noise was tremendous.

"So, are we pretty much ready to go storming or are there some other things we need to take care of?" Karin asked.

Sakura smiled. "We need to check back with Hinata and Neji, but we're practically ready."

"What are they doing?" Karin asked.

"Getting some more help."

Karin let out a smile. "Perfect. I love having overwhelming odds against the enemy."

"S- Alice and I will take our leave until this evening, then," Shikamaru said.

Karin gave a small wave. "Try not to die until then!"

As they turned to go, Shikamaru said quietly to Sakura, "Are you ready, Sakura?"

"Yeah," she said determinedly. "Let's rock this bitch."

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Hinata and Neji had gone to ask the rebel Hearts army if they would help Sakura and her cause.

About half of the army had joined the rebels and the other half had stayed with at the city of Hearts. With the Red army on their side, Sakura was sure that they had an even match in terms of numbers, but if they could get the rebel army to join, they would certainly have an advantage.

For now, though, the Red army marched towards the city of Hearts, marched in perfect unison with stony faces and not a sound, save for the clunking of their boots. Sakura marched along with them, her face just as stony and her mouth just as silent. A sense of gravity had settled over the entire group; this was war they were entering, and most didn't even know why. But the Red assassins did not question their leader. She had led them through much and to glory. They owed her. They would give anything for her.

The two of Sakura's companions walked beside her with the same sense of solemnity. To them, this was their chance to get their lives back, an opportunity to take back the city they had grown up in and loved. And they were soldiers. No soldier ever wanted to lose.

They marched steadily without slowing until it was nighttime and the trees gave way to long grasses. Sakura could see the lights of the city in the distance and hated it. Some small part of her wished that she could turn tail and run and leave Sasuke and her responsibilities behind. But she couldn't do that. He would die if she didn't get him back. And she could not abandon her friends, not when they were so close to getting their city back.

The army stopped for the night; it was a good idea for them to be well rested for the battle tomorrow, and attacking at night when the guards were more and expecting an attack was idiotic.

They had just finished setting up camp when two dark haired fellows came running back along with several thousand soldiers.

"We did it!" Hinata breathed to Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kakashi. She didn't even need to say anything; the small smile on Neji's face was alert enough of the news.

Everyone was smiling as they heard, especially the Red assassins, who very much liked the idea of their chances of dying lessening. With the arrival of the rebel Hearts army, the mood in the camp was lifted some. The White Queen, leader of the rebel army, met with her blood colored counterpart along with Sakura (who Karin had insisted come).

"We are ready to strike at any moment," the White Queen informed the two other women, her gaze intense. "It is time to take back our castle."

Karin let out a small smirk. "Oh, hells yes," she announced. "I do so adore battles."

The armies went to sleep around twelve with the intention of attacking the Explosives at eight the next morning. Despite the fact that Sakura knew she should, she could not fall asleep. Her mind was whirling with the knowledge that she was about to attack a city, an attack she had instigated. If she told herself of just two weeks ago that she would be part of a battle in a fantasy land she would've raised an eyebrow and said, "Me? But I'm not athletic and I don't believe in that sort of stuff." But here she was, and she did believe now. She was a completely different person from two weeks ago; she was a killer, she was an outsider, she was a girl with the power to move armies. And to think that it had all been the fault of Sasuke. He was the one who had gotten captured, after all-

But no. It was all her fault. She didn't have to go and save him. She could've hid in a corner somewhere, but she had decided to play Mrs. Hero, and that wasn't as bad as she made it sound. Maybe it was also her fault because maybe, just maybe, she cared for him a little more than she thought. But only a little.

Beside her, Hinata couldn't sleep either, thinking about how much she'd changed over the past two weeks.

Morning dawned all too soon, and Sakura was shaken awake gently by her bunny companion. Looks like she had managed to fall asleep after all. She couldn't remember when it had happened, but then again you never did.

She gathered her things and followed Hinata outside their tent to find a camp bustling with activity. People's nerves were on edge from anticipation about the upcoming battle.

They set off marching again, going for barely an hour before they reached the city of Hearts. The gate was open, for people were still streaming inside from all around the outside of the city. They screamed when they saw the huge advancing army. Guards in the barracks readied their weapons with panicked expressions.

And Sakura's army advanced into Hearts city.

They were ready.

The war for Sasuke Uchiha had begun.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

.

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_It's starting; can't you see?_

_The end of the journey, the end of you and me_

_Are you sure you are ready?_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**I feel like this chapter is short and rushed, and probably because it is. Sorry. :( But are you guys ready for the big finale next chapter(s)? **


	12. 012, Part I: End

**explosive**

**Author's note1: Hey guys! These next three chapters are special! I've split chapter twelve into three parts because one, it'd be really long if I didn't, and two, it builds the suspense. :D So, these next three chapters will be shorter, but don't feel slighted.**

**If you care: Everyone should vote on the epically RIDONKULOUS poll in my profile page. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Catapults.

Rocks hurt when they are flung over at you, as some soldiers find out. Weapons of war are nasty, deadly, and are being used at this very moment. Screaming. People scream as they die, scream as they watch their friends die, scream as they feel a first rush of fear climb over their backs, their heads and settle in to stay. Slashing. Weapons slash in the air, into other people, sending surges of blood sailing over the air, to splatter onto the ground in a most grotesque way. Gunshot. Bullets are flung from a gun into the hearts of their master's enemy. Soldiers. Soldiers, killers, fighters, enders stomp into the castle, vowing only to be stopped by God.

And they don't believe in God.

Sakura Haruno came to the realization that battle was horrible and not even gruesome scenes in a movie could prepare her for this. In a movie, you knew that no one was actually dying. Here, it was real.

She stepped over a groaning man, whose life was ebbing away, trying to remain as detached as possible. Her mission was to get inside the castle and find Sasuke. Nothing else. Don't try to fight someone. Don't try to help anyone. Just get inside the castle.

She had Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kakashi with her. The four of them were silent, faces masks as they took down anybody stupid enough to try and fight them. They sped on towards the castle, letting the armies take care of the castle soldiers.

"Almost there," Hinata said briefly, turning around to face Sakura. The latter was holding up fairly well; despite being traumatized by the carnage around her, she was facing forward, a determination in her green eyes. "Let's go faster," she urged, an impatience to finally meet what she had been working for for so long settling over her.

"We'll try," said Shikamaru from the front; his tone was terse, the intensity of the battle making him into a different person. The five of them ran through the twisting maze of streets in the city of Hearts, getting closer every second to the castle looming ominously overhead.

Surrounding them were the sounds of people screaming, the sounds of weapons clashing, the sounds of guns firing. Somewhere in the city, Karin was shouting at her soldiers to keep fighting if they considered themselves real assassins, to keep fighting, because, hell yeah, they were fucking winning this thing. Somewhere in the city, the White Queen rallied her forces together with a grim smile, because they were going to win this bitch, no questions asked. Somewhere in the city, a girl, a rabbit, a mouse, a knave, and a caterpillar sprinted towards a battle worse than the one surrounding them, sprinted towards a goal each had wanted for so long that was finally within reach.

Somewhere in the city, a boy sat on a throne and played uncaring ruler as his forces were killed.

Somewhere in the city, a hatter, a duchess, and a hare waited for the group of five speeding towards them. Somewhere in the city, the hatter looked at his watch and let out a mirthless smile, saying, "Alice, you appear to be late."

FOR A VERY IMPORTANT DATE.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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012, Part I:

((_nothing's going to stop me now_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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This is the end.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Hearts castle was actually quite ugly.

Sakura hadn't realized so much in the nighttime, but in the day, when she could see it clearly, she noted how absolutely hideous it was. The hearts everywhere, as if people didn't know what city they were in? Tacky. And the stone so old and unwashed that it was practically muddy brown? An eyesore. Oh, and the vines crawling over every surface, as if the gardeners could not be bothered to take care of it. How ugly. How drab. How revolting.

How absolutely frightening it was.

The ugliness of Hearts castle served only to remind people of the ugliness of the people within its walls; the people who killed their subjects without a second thought and the people who sat around uncaringly as their subjects suffered and died. The tyrants. The Explosives.

Sasuke Uchiha.

But Sasuke's just being controlled, Sakura mentally berated herself. He would never do those things in real life. She knew Sasuke. They had dated for four long years. She knew that he had a secret soft side behind all the coldness and rudeness. He couldn't even kill a bug; he lifted it onto a napkin and put it outside. He bought her chocolate and flowers and jewelry all the time because he loved to make her happy. Behind the tough exterior he projected, Sasuke Uchiha was one big, fat teddy bear who would blanch at the thought of doing the stuff that he was doing now. Well, blanch as much as one could with no skin pigmentation to begin with.

She started to smile, thinking of all the times she had teased Sasuke about his pale skin, and about his retaliation that she was just as pasty as him. But the smile was wiped off her face as soon as she saw someone fall, their head hanging onto their neck by a few shreds of skin. This was a war. She could not afford to get distracted, no matter how enticing the distraction might be. She had to focus only on reaching the castle and retrieving Sasuke, and nothing else.

Don't think about the fact that you might die.

"Sakura!"

And there they were. They had arrived. The castle of Hearts loomed before them, daring them to enter its ugly halls. _Well, I accept that dare, bitch,_ Sakura thought determinedly. _Nothing's going to stop me now._

"Let's go," she said, and she and her companions tore into the castle, entering right into the front door.

It was empty, dark, and eerily silent. Sakura glanced around the receiving hall, her nerves on edge, ready to take anything. "Wait," Neji said quietly, stepping forward cautiously, inspecting the area for any threats. Sakura held her breath anxiously, waiting for the moment when a bullet would smack into Neji.

"All clear," he said a few moments later. She let out a sigh of relief.

"They must be hiding somewhere in the center of the castle," Kakashi said, just as a bullet smashed into the wall mere centimeters from his head.

Everyone jumped back as a series of bullets were fired out at them. Shikamaru cursed. Naruto Uzumaki poked his head out from behind a doorway and said, "Damn."

Hinata tensed.

Sakura lifted up her gun and made to fire at Naruto, but found again that she couldn't. Why? He had killed people! He was a horrible person! Why wouldn't she shoot him?

_Because he was nice to me_.

He was nice to you so he could gain your trust and then use you, Sakura told herself. He wasn't really fond of you or anything.

"Don't," Hinata hissed. Sakura gave her a bewildered look. "Why?" she whispered.

"Because I want to."

_Hinata_ knew that Naruto was horrible person. _Hinata _would not have any trouble killing him. Once upon a time she had loved Naruto, but then he decided to become a lying, cheating, murdering bitch. Hinata would exact her revenge on Naruto and kill him, and get a good night's sleep afterwards.

It would be the best battle of her life.

"Go," she whispered to the others. "I'll cover you."

Neji looked pained. "Hinata-"

"Go, Neji." Her voice was firm, her mind set. She would not back down.

"Then- then, be careful."

Hinata squeezed her cousin's hand and turned to face the Mad Hatter as her companions sprinted from the room.

It was silent as they ran away.

"Playing hero, Hinata?"

Oh, God, she hated that voice.

"Heroine."

She wanted to kill him.

"Of course. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

She would kill him.

"For implying that you were a man."

"And that's all?"

He stepped out from his hiding spot, and even through the darkness she could see his smile. That sunny smile that made her feel warm and safe, that sunny smile that brightened up her whole day. "What do you want me to say, Hinata?" he whispered. "That I'm sorry for who I am?"

Hinata didn't respond for a moment. She could feel the blood roaring in her ears, every one of her muscles set to spring. "I am," she said.

Then she attacked.

He was so fast, but so was she. Guns pulled out in an instant; too close for guns; swords, knives, and her . . . spade?

"Seriously?" Naruto choked out upon seeing her weapon of choice. He clearly did not want that thing coming within a few feet of him.

"I used this to dig Itachi's grave," Hinata said, and Naruto's eyes went wide.

His next attacks were more furious.

Hinata smiled grimly. Looks like she hit a sore. Naruto would be angry and his attacks would be clumsier with his anger. It was a classic mistake. It would be easy to take him down.

But Hinata saw his attacks become deadlier, impossibly so. She was forced to go on the defensive.

Something about the fight, something about it's speed, the rush of adrenaline, made her think back to the time when they were still dating, to a time when the world had sunshine. They would spar for hours on end, mostly just to be with each other. She had loved being with him, being so close to him and yet playing a deadly game. He would always let her win, even when he shouldn't have, and then always say to her, "_You're so good at this, Hinata!_"

Something in her snapped. She felt like crying.

No. That wasn't good. She had to stay focused on the fight- she had to kill him, because he was a-

What?

She couldn't remember. All she could remember was the sunny smile, the kind words-

She had to stay focused on the fight. Only the fight. Win. Kill him. You have to win.

Both of their movements were slowing.

Naruto could only remember the shy smile, the gentle words, and it was killing him. Probably literally. He couldn't lose. Losing meant that he would die. Losing-

What?

Naruto was depressed. He was sad over the death of one of his closest friends. He was angry. It had ruined his whole life. He wanted to kill the ones responsible.

But doing that meant killing Hinata.

Suddenly, Naruto could see.

He was alright.

Alright.

He smiled, and Hinata's eyes went wide.

It was okay. Itachi probably didn't care that he was dead. Death had never concerned the Cheshire Cat that much. Itachi wouldn't want Naruto and Ino to go and avenge him. He would have wanted them to forget about him, move on, go about their lives.

(Oh, and get his stupid brother out of Wonderland.)

It was then that Naruto was able to become happy again.

It was then that Naruto realized that he still loved Hinata.

It was then that Naruto became okay with losing.

Hinata was still struggling. _Kill him- don't kill him- kill him- don't kill him . _She could hardly pay attention to what she was doing, so involved was she in her own mind.

Naruto's sword slowed. Hinata's spade did not.

Naruto went on the defensive. Hinata continued to attack.

Naruto missed. Hinata did not.

Suddenly, faced with overwhelming feelings of lingering affection and love, Hinata decided to just apprehend Naruto, take him captive, and question him about the whole cheating thing. That way, maybe they could come to some sort of reconciliation.

(And maybe get back together again.)

Hinata pulled out of her mind to see a massive wound in Naruto's chest.

There was blood on her spade.

He smiled, and Hinata's eyes went wide.

Naruto fell to the ground, his sword clattering onto the floor next to him. He started to fall forward. Hinata let out a sound she had only made as she watched her city fall; a sound of complete and utter despair. She lunged forward and grabbed onto him, clutching him tightly to her. "It's okay, baby," she bubbled hysterically. "It's okay; we'll find help."

"Hinata," Naruto said, and his voice sounded very far off.

"No," she said quietly, then louder: "No, no, no!"

"Hinata, it's okay. I'm fine with this." His voice was a whisper, a faint, faint whisper.

"No, you aren't," she said ferociously, fisting her hands in his hair. "Come on, Naruto! Live, live, live!"

"Hinata, look at me." She obeyed and he stared up into her eyes, his blood splattered all over her shirt. "Honestly, Hinata, it's okay."

"Shut up," she said, and then whispered out with fear in her eyes, "I love you."

He smiled again. "I love you, too, Hinata."

His body felt limp in her arms and she clutched him to her, rocking back and forth, the wall looking foggy through her tears.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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_And we'll just keep on moving_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Don't hate me!**


	13. 012, Part II: End

**explosive**

**Author's note1: The entirety of this story sucked butt . . . but I think that these chapters are pretty good. :o **

**If you care: I want gummy bears. Anybody want to give me some?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

**To Luka1Sakura and EclipseStripe: You're both so right. :D**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Ino felt it, like an electric bolt running through her entire body.

She could almost feel the weapon slashing across her chest like it was slashing across her friend's. She bit her lip and resisted the urge to cry out. It wouldn't do to show weakness here. Not in front of him.

Not when she was the only one left.

She drummed her fingers against her sword. She just had to wait a little more. Just a little more. Then it would be over.

Then she would have won.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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012, Part II:

((_ready?_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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Look at how much closer we are getting.

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura's feet pounded against the marble floor, her breath flinging out of her mouth harshly. She knew that she should slow down, and try to save her energy, but she couldn't, she just couldn't. She was almost there and she wanted to get there so badly. "Sakura, wait," her companions called from behind, but she did not listen. She only stopped when she reached a fork in the hallway she was going down; which one? Right or left? Left or right? Was there even a difference?

"No," Kakashi said from behind her. "They both lead up to another receiving hall, and then are taken up to the same hallway, which leads you to the throne room."

Sakura forced her heart to slow down. Dimly, she could hear the screams of battle, even deep within the castle. "More people are coming," she realized. It wasn't that the battle outside was loud- it was that soldiers were coming.

The four of them wheeled around to face the growing noise. "What do we do?" Sakura asked, panicked.

"I'll stay. You three run," Kakashi said.

There was an immediate and loud protest: We don't know how many people are coming! You could be killed! But Kakashi said simply, "Go," and the three of them obeyed, taking the left hallway.

Sakura's heart was in her mouth as she ran once more. Never mind that they had already left Hinata to fight on her own; now Kakashi was by himself too? "He'll be alright," Neji told her, but his voice was strained like she was. Neji was worried about Hinata, too.

As they ran, they began to hear the sound of fighting behind them.

Shikamaru abruptly stopped like he wanted to turn around and help, but Neji stopped him. "We have to keep moving," he said, being firm in his decision.

After staring at the older man for a moment, Shikamaru nodded and turned around again, not saying a word. Sakura and Neji followed after him.

The hallway was long, winding; Sakura began to feel that it would never end, that it was a trap set up by the damn Explosives that she had fallen into stupidly. All she could see was Neji in front of her and the close together walls of the hallway, barely allowing for two people to stand side by side. It was lit every few feet by a mere candle that cast eerie glows over every surface; Neji, when he looked behind himself, looked like a humanoid monster.

A sort of pretty humanoid monster. Still, Sakura decided that she liked looking at him better with when it was light.

They had to be running for at least ten minutes before they reached the end of the hallway.

They stopped for a short break. Nobody wanted to; it was more of a necessity. They needed to regain some of their strength, for they were expecting a big fight. The throne room would most likely be swamped with guards, for the remaining Explosive leader and the Queen were some of the most valuable players in this war. Sakura paced, not wanting to stop moving despite needing a break. Every part of her screamed at her to go, to go and save Sasuke. She was so close. So close. Maybe ten more minutes. Ten more minutes.

"Are you guys ready?" she asked of Shikamaru and Neji, bouncing anxiously on her toes.

Shikamaru checked to see if his gun was loaded for the thirtieth time. Neji nodded. "Let's go," he said quietly.

They made to move.

Sakura saw a shadow wiggling in the darkness and squeezed off a few bullets at it.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru said, thoroughly confused.

"There's someone here!"

She leapt after the shadow, her gun pointed out in front of her. "Come out!" she called, even though she knew that it was useless. She shot off another bullet into the darkness, just to see if she could scare someone.

Or maybe hit them.

"Sakura, don't waste your bullets," Shikamaru said. "Are you sure you saw something? It could just be nerves."

"No, I saw someone," she said determinedly.

"I saw something too," Neji said. His voice was blank.

"See?" Sakura said. "I'm not making this up-"

"You two should get out of here."

"What?" They turned to him, Sakura just briefly so she could keep her eyes trained on the shadows. But even the brief look showed her how deadly serious Neji was.

"No way in hell," Shikamaru said. "We're not getting separated again."

"I'm with Shika, Neji," Sakura said.

He shook his head at them. "Just go."

"But-"

"_Please_."

It was something about that word that made Alice and the Dormouse turn and silently leave the room, because the Caterpillar did not say please; he didn't beg; he didn't plead, but when he did you'd better listen. He was serious. Deadly serious. There was something up and he did not want Sakura and Shikamaru stuck in it. So the pair turned and left without a word, silently well-wishing Neji Hyuga.

He knew he'd need it.

Neji smoothly pulled out his submachinegun, examining the weapon blankly, as if he had examined it hundreds upon hundreds of times. "Why are you here?" he asked, voice as blank as his face as his being. For right now, Neji was blank. He was fine. He was keeping his cool.

Someone stepped out of the shadows, someone whose hair was illuminated wildly in the scant candlelight. "Should I not be?" he questioned, and his voice was just as blank as Neji's being. He was blank too. He was keeping his cool. He was fine.

"I'm going to have to kill you."

Neji stated that fact so coolly, like he didn't care at all. _Oh, I'll be back soon; I just have to kill someone_. No big deal. Done in a flash. Just pull the trigger. Send a few rounds into his traitorous chest.

But Neji found that he could not.

There was a stain on Neji's blankness.

"I know."

And this other man did not care. He had put a stain on Neji's blankness and that would not do. Neji said to him, "It appears you know everything, Gaara."

"I am quite good at figuring out exits," said the March Hare, and he stepped closer to Neji. Neji gave him a warning glance. This was a fight. You didn't go closer to your opponent. That was how one got shot in the face.

"What do you want?" Neji said cautiously.

There was a stain on Gaara's blankness when he next spoke.

"I just want to talk."

Neji lifted an eyebrow. He didn't believe Gaara; of course he didn't believe Gaara. The man had tried to kill him. He was an Explosive. Neji's enemy.

"About what?" he said. If he didn't like what Gaara had to say, he'd shoot him.

"You're angry with me, aren't you?"

Neji didn't say anything. Silence spoke a thousands words. The stain was growing bigger. _Uh, duh, buddy_.

"I'm different from them," Gaara continued, and Neji lifted an eyebrow. _How so?_

"I wasn't born like they were. I was made."

"Do you think you're a hero or something?" Neji said dryly. He didn't know what Gaara was trying to say.

The Hare shook his head. "No. I mean that Naruto and Ino were born as Explosives while I was made into one."

The raised eyebrow was back.

Something almost exasperated passed over Gaara's face and he said to Neji, "That means that I was _forced _into this, Caterpillar. Why do you think that I was helping Sakura all the time?"

Neji thought about it. There was a big ass stain on him now. "So I don't have to kill you?" he said slowly.

Gaara blinked, and there was a big ass stain on him as well. "Well, if you want to."

". . . But you are telling me that you were forced to do things for the Explosives because they made you into one and that you'd rather be with the rebels."

"Yes."

". . . And that you've been helping us without the Explosives knowing."

"Yes."

". . . So what are you going to do now?"

"I'm thinking that I should go help Sakura and Shikamaru. Are you going to come?"

Neji shrugged. "Guess so."

The stain covered their entire bodies, but it was okay. And the two men who hid their emotions walked off to help their friends.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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_Even when we're at the end_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**See, I can write happy moments in a story! (. . . Somewhat . . .)**


	14. 012, Part III: End

**explosive**

**Author's note1: ****This is the last chapter****. Thanks for sticking all the way through. I've got more to say at the bottom.**

**If you care: My brain hurts. Wah.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Alice in Wonderland.**

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Hinata was gone.

Neji was gone.

Kakashi was gone.

Sakura and Shikamaru were the only ones left.

They prayed that their friends were still alive, but could only spare a single prayer; they had to focus on what was coming. They were getting close to the throne room, close to the grandest battle that made them hold their breath. They were sprinting down a long hallway and to Sakura it seemed to continue on and on forever, never allowing her to reach her goal. So close. So long waiting this. Here. It was almost here.

It was almost time to rescue Sasuke Uchiha.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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012, Part III:

((_sasuke_))

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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Do really you think that I have any time left?

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Sakura's heart felt like it wanted to burst; her brain was working overtime; her nerves were fried; her body was shaking with tension. "_Guards_?" she hissed angrily.

All this way, to be stopped by mere guards? They swarmed in front of the entrance to the throne room like ants. "What did you expect?" Shikamaru said. It was a good question. She was about to face two of the most powerful people in Wonderland. Of course they would be heavily guarded.

She clenched her teeth, still angry. "How are we to get past them?" she asked, trying to remain calm. She had to prepare herself for the coming battle. Steady, steady . . .

"I'll create a diversion," Shikamaru said. "You go into the throne room. It should be you anyways."

"But you'll die, too," Sakura said, her face and tone a mess of anguish.

Shikamaru shook his head and smiled softly. "I'm a mouse, remember? We mice are pretty quick."

Sakura gave a small smile back and the two ran.

Shikamaru went first. Gun out, throwing a handy dandy smoke bomb; the guards were momentarily incapacitated and looking for a man, not a pink haired girl. Sakura sprinted and through open the huge door- boom- with a loud bang, it was slammed behind her, echoing in the silent room.

Deadly silent.

It was a massive, rectangular room with no place to hide; the only exit was the one behind Sakura. Large tapestries hung on the walls, most featuring hearts. A few stairs led up to an uncomfortable looking throne, upon which sat a person.

He stared at her with dark, circle ridden eyes, hardly blinking. She recognized him this time though the fancy, overbearing clothes and the foggy glass he instinctively held over his character.

"Sasuke."

He did not respond. He did not even blink.

"Sasuke."

"No."

His voice was blank; dead. He shook his head slowly from one side to the other and repeated the little word.

"No."

"Sasuke," she said again uselessly. Did he recognize her at all? Did he?

"It's no use."

Someone stepped out from behind the throne, a someone with long blonde hair and a confident stature. Sakura knew who she was instantly, even though they had never met.

Ino. The Duchess.

"He doesn't know who you are," she said, her voice smug.

Sakura hated the Duchess.

She didn't hate her for who she was. She didn't even hate her for killing thousands of people; that wasn't her war and it would ever be. No, she hated Ino for taking Sasuke. For making him into something that he never wanted to be. For exploiting him.

For ruining Itachi, too.

"He knows me," Sakura said defiantly to the Duchess.

She lifted a blonde, perfectly plucked eyebrow. "Thank you for coming out here, Alice," she said lazily, as if she didn't actually care. "You will help me very much."

"I'm not helping you do shit, bitch," Sakura said, voice quite emotionless. "And my name is _Sakura_."

Ino smiled.

Sakura grew angrier.

"Well, then, Sakura," Ino said, and she drew out a long, thin sword. "If you won't help me, what do you intend to do?"

Sakura's gun felt cool in her hands. She momentarily looked down at it, and closed her eyes for a small second. This gun had seen a lot, like she had been through a lot in a less than two weeks. Her face was set with determination as she opened her eyes to stare at Ino.

"I'm taking Sasuke back."

She barely even raised her voice, but the words carried across the room and soaked their way into Ino's soul. The tiniest bit of a frown appeared on her face and she stared at Sakura for a few moments in the darkened hall while the Queen of Hearts stared on as well. Then Ino flicked up sword up and was carrying it upright, fully prepared to start a dance that Sakura had never been in before. "You can't have him. Sorry, darling," Ino said, and leaped forward.

To Sakura, time slowed.

She saw in Ino rushing towards her a girl who just wanted her friends back, a girl who was going to kill her or enslave her. But she couldn't afford anymore thinking; this was a battle descending on her.

She lifted her gun and shot.

Ino was quick, impossibly quick, and the bullet shattered into the ground behind her. The Queen's eyes grew wide and he tensed, as if he was going to jump into the battle. Sakura fumbled around in her holster and pulled out something else; a knife, one that she feared would be terribly ineffective against Ino.

Ino slashed out at her, her sword barely missing Sakura, who jumped back in alarm. Sakura tried to spin around the other woman and catch her with her knife, but Ino spun and parried her knife away easily. Sakura resisted the urge to let out a growl of hopelessness and frustration. It would not do to show Ino weakness.

And the Queen of Hearts watched.

Sakura jumped backward, keeping the Duchess in her sight and she lifted up her gun and shot again. But Sakura hand shook and the bullet landed somewhere near Sasuke's throne. She berated herself. She'd have to watch where her bullets went. Life would suck if she accidentally killed Sasuke.

Ino jumped in with her sword swinging again and naturally caught Sakura right where the wound in her arm was. Sakura hissed in pain as the wound was savagely reopened and blood poured down her arm. Ino twirled away with a look of grim satisfaction.

To Sakura, the fight went on forever. They spun close, trying to hack apart the other, and then danced away, Sakura trying to get a bullet into Ino's head. Ino was a formidable opponent and never seemed to tire while Sakura could feel a burn starting in her muscles. It was surprise that she hadn't died yet, really. Sakura was a girl barely out of high school while Ino was a woman who had trained all her life in fighting. Sakura said some curses internally and doubled her efforts to taking down Ino.

It wasn't working.

Sakura was losing.

Her hurt arm was affecting her ability to fight and she was growing more tired than she had ever been in a fight. Ino was just too good. How could she have ever thought that she could beat her? This had been a suicide mission from the very start. Hinata was dead. Neji was dead. Kakashi was dead. Shikamaru was dead, and she was going to die too.

Sakura despaired.

But then, she heard gunshot . . . and it wasn't hers.

The fight stopped abruptly. Ino looked down in amazement. "What . . .?" she croaked out.

Sasuke was still sitting on his throne, looking at a gun in his hands as if he was wondering how it got there. "Ino," he started to say, and then a look of shock passed over his face.

Sakura wasted no time. She shot Ino twice in the head. The Outlanders watched was the Duchess tumbled to the ground, her long blonde hair stained red.

She was dead.

Sakura turned to Sasuke and saw her expression of disbelief mirrored on his face. "Sasuke," she whispered. Her weapons clattered to the ground, and the blood from her arm drifted down to her leg. She was tired, so unbearably tired. Imagine if she could just lie down and go to sleep. Imagine. But she couldn't.

Sasuke.

His lips moved, but no sound came out. He stared at her. "Sasuke, don't you remember me?" Sakura whispered, taking a few steps closer to him. He didn't recoil, but stared up at her with trepidation. "You don't remember me at all, do you?" Sakura whispered. Her heart felt like it was snapping as Sasuke gazed at her. "I don't . . . know who are you are," he whispered.

Sakura stood directly in front of him, her chest heaving. Here he was. The guy that she loved. "Sasuke, darling. . ." Her hand drifted out, shaking slightly, to touch his cheek. His eyes drifted closed.

Abruptly, she snatched the gun from him. His eyes flew open in surprise. "I don't know who you are, either," Sakura said, her voice trembling with emotion. She looked at his dark eyes, his clothes, and she pointed the gun at him. "Who are you?" she asked as she held him at gunpoint.

Sasuke stared up at her.

And the Queen of Hearts shattered.

Pieces of Anton fell all over the floor, leaving behind who he really was; Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke blinked at her, and he blinked some more, and he _recognized _her, he really did. Two little words floated out of his mouth, two little words that meant the world to Sakura, that told her that Sasuke Uchiha was _back_.

"The hell?"

Sakura gasped and dropped his gun; it clattered to the ground and she didn't really care. She threw her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder and smelling his Sasuke smell. His arms went around her as he was saying, "What the fuck is going on?" Sakura didn't answer, clutching him tightly as memories floated back into him and he gasped out loud and said, "Did I actually do that?" "Sorry," she whispered to him and kissed his eyes, his nose, and his mouth and said again, "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he said, but his tone had an edge of disbelief to it, like he just could not come to terms with the fact that he was in another world. "Sakura. Sakura, I killed people."

"She deserved it," Sakura said, thinking he meant Ino and kissing him again. Sasuke shook his head, sending her mouth sliding all along his jaw. "Not her," he said. "Other people. Innocent people."

She drew back to look at him, and he was so beautiful, with his eyes wide with shock and disbelief and his sallow, malnourished skin. "It wasn't your fault," she said firmly, and on a crazy impulse, lightly slapped one of his cheeks. He frowned at her. "Stop being such a fucking wimp, Sasuke."

The frown deepened and he said to her, "_I'm_ the wimp?" Sakura huffed; they had been together for less than five minutes and he was already making her mad.

"I traveled all around this damn country for you and started a damn war just to get you back," she said, but the words spilled out of her mouth with no real fire.

A small smile played around Sasuke's lips as he said to her, "You just can't bear to be without me, can you?"

Sakura was huffing again. "I couldn't just _leave_ you here-"

The doors to the throne room flung open and Sakura jumped out of Sasuke's lap, eyes wide. It was the guards; Shikamaru had lost and the guards were coming in to kill them. But she had no weapon; she had dropped her gun and she had to protect Sasuke-

"Sakura!"

The door was opened to reveal a grinning Shikamaru, a Shikamaru who was covered in blood, but a living Shikamaru nonetheless. "We won!" he was saying. "And you won too!"

Sakura sprinted down the throne room to hug him tightly, saying, "I thought you were dead!" Then she sprinted back to grab Sasuke and said giddily, "Look, look, he's okay!"

The door to the throne room was flung open again and four people entered. Sakura gave Hinata a long hug and then jumped over to hug Kakashi, but stopped short when she saw Gaara with Neji. "You," she said, and the room went silent as she and the March Hare stared at each other.

"He's fine, Sakura," Neji said.

Sakura stared at him for a few more moments, and then shrugged and said, "Whatever."

And everyone smiled.

"Sakura," Hinata said, her tone surprisingly sad.

"What's the matter?" Sakura asked, frowning.

Hinata sighed. "You're fading already."

"What?" Sakura looked down, and sure enough, she and Sasuke were fading from their toes up. "Are we going home?"

"I wish we could've talked a bit more," Hinata said.

"I'll miss you," Sakura said to her friends as she faded away. They waved.

They landed in Sakura's bedroom, bloody clothes and all. "This is going to be a bit awkward," Sasuke said. Sakura couldn't help giggling.

They were called a miracle by the newspaper when everyone found out that they had returned. They told everyone that they had been so angry over their breakup that they had run away to think things over. But they were most definitely together again, and they never wanted to be apart. They spent every afternoon together until fall. When Sakura went into another room, Sasuke would follow her, as if he feared that he would lose her again. Sometimes they would just sit there and hug each other, as if they couldn't belief that they had finally gotten the other back.

Their parents were overjoyed. The Uchihas hadn't lost their last son after all, and the Harunos their only daughter.

When they left for college he would call her every night. Sometimes they talked about the wonderland they had visited, and Sakura would see rabbits, a mouse, a kitty cat, and a knave floating behind her eyelids. She missed them terribly, but she had Sasuke now and it was time to focus on her life.

But no matter what happened, Wonderland wasn't a place that either of them would forget.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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_The end_

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o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

**Aaaaand, explosive ends at 257 pages and 59,108 words.**

**(Don't trust Fanfiction word count. It's wrong.)**

**First of all, a big thank you to all of my reviewers. You all make me so happy. :)**

**I'm not completely satisfied with this story. There were too many convenient things and some parts were downright awful, but I hoped you enjoyed it anyways. But this story was a learning experience for me, so my next one will be way better. :D**

**See ya,**

**~juliet aint got nothing**


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